


Hell and High Water

by CaptainAmericaontheTardis



Series: Fireproof [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, BAMF Klaus Hargreeves, F/F, Family Bonding, Fluff, Humor, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kid Fic, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, M/M, Modern David "Dave" Katz, Mothman, Non-Binary Klaus Hargreeves, Other, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, The Moon - Freeform, Trans Diego Hargreeves, the Jersey Devil - Freeform, the man on the moon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:02:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 31,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29120160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAmericaontheTardis/pseuds/CaptainAmericaontheTardis
Summary: "You and I we've both been through Hell and high water; I'll be yours, you'll be mine. We'll be Fireproof tonight. There's a spark catching fire, feel it getting hotter. I'll be yours, you'll be mine. We'll be fireproof."-- Coleman HellA sequel to "Fireproof"The Hargreeves family will have to tape together their one (1) braincell to stop the apocalypse. Luckily Five knows better than anyone that family runs deep as Hell and if he can even remotely control his mischievous nieces he knows they might have a chance as clock ticks down and the unbroken moon looms over the most monstrous timeline yet.And Dave wants to remind everyone that he is still just a dude - for the love of god, holy shit - he's just a guy. Fuck!
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves/Original Character(s), Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz, The Hargreeves Family, Vanya Hargreeves/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Fireproof [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2136642
Comments: 117
Kudos: 130





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I finally got around to doing the sequel to "Fireproof"! I am kind of swinging blind on this one so if there's something specific that you want to see, feel free to send in suggestions and prompts! Also, I will probably only be doing 1-2 chapters a week for a little bit while I catch up :) 
> 
> Chapter one we're starting with just a calm update on our little family, if you haven't read the first story it might be a little confusing but I think you could understand what's going on if you're starting with this one. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and I hope that you enjoy!

Kenzie Grace Hargreeves fluttered her eyes open as she heard her uncle Ben and Sally slip out of the house for a walk and with a pout she sat up and glanced around her room. Fairy lights lined the ceiling and a purple fairy night light shone brightly making every corner of the room easy to see. The 7-year old’s heart was racing, and she didn’t know why – everything was over and she was safe in her own home but she couldn’t sleep.

Recurring nightmares that she had dealt with her entire life now had more venom in the way they could crawl into her veins and send ice through her heart. The faceless scary man that always chased her and tried to trap her now had a very clear image in her mind. A stern old man with a monocle and cane; cold eyes and colder voice which stuck with her even as she fell asleep in her father’s arms the first few nights she was home. 

As if on some disturbing repeating loop, she saw the moment _He _brought a knife into her mom’s stomach and he collapsed to the floor with choked scream while her uncle Ben begged her grandfather to stop over and over again when she closed her eyes. She remembered the way her mom’s eyes flashed apologetically over her face then went unfocused and far away as the poison overtook him.__

__She whined and as if on cue, the broken, antique doll nestled into the blanket shuddered and a bulbous, nervous, protruding eyeball squelched out of the broken socket. The black eyeball took in its surroundings then with a tired “Rot rot rotrot” retreated into the old doll. It groaned as the little girl tucked him under her arm and hopped out of bed._ _

__She gingerly padded down the lit hall and glanced into her fathers’ bedroom, the door was cracked, and she peered inside. She saw that Dave was sleeping tensely with his arm above his head, gripping onto his pillow. He was frowning and she could see his eyes flickering quickly under his eyelids. For the past few nights he had already been awake when she had her nightmares so it caught her off guard that he was so sound asleep._ _

__She walked over to the other side of the bed, her momma was in the fetal position, his arms shaking and his joints twitching as if he were having a small seizure. His mouth moved, stumbling in high pitched sounds of words that she couldn’t make out. His teeth were chattering and her anxiety went up as she debated on if she needed to save him from this nightmare._ _

__She pulled the monocle out of her pocket and held it up to her right eye - through the magical device she saw things in almost blinding colors, everything in the world a constant movement of atoms and auras swirling together to make reality._ _

__The world around her fathers’ forms changed and she saw flashes of faces screaming into her momma’s face, she saw bits and pieces of memories and imprinted memories of her grandfather’s scowling form. Her momma looked different under the monocle and in that moment he seemed small, with a rounder face and big open scared eyes - she could see a red poison through blue veins slowly chipping away at his form._ _

__She dropped the monocle and stuffed it back into her pocket, she lifted her hand to wake him up, suddenly feeling even more guilty and confused along with the lingering fears from her nightmares. However, as the effects of the monocle left the scene her father was back to the invisible thralls of his nightmares. She dropped her hand and backed out, pulling the door to the position it was when she found it and turned to face the rest of the apartment._ _

__It looked scary in the dark and she took a deep breath before running into the living room and switching on all the lights. She instantly felt better and she glanced down at the blood fiend under her arm, “Okay, Kenzie - be brave.”_ _

__*********************************************************************************************_ _

__

__Klaus jolted awake just as the nightmare culminated in the butt of the cane impacting his jaw and it took him a moment to realize that he was in his own bed, then again, same as it had been every morning since Tuesday night the events of the week flooded back to him and he was left with an unpleasant, sour anxiety. That and the unmistakable pain in his body - pooling around his legs and getting worse until it crescendoed worryingly into a constant sharp ache in his chest surrounding his heart and lungs._ _

__He fell back onto his pillow and glanced over at the man sleeping next to him. Dave hadn’t stirred which Klaus was relieved - not that he didn’t want some comfort but sleep had been a difficult thing for his fiancé to come by since-- that night._ _

__Klaus climbed out of bed, grabbing the rustic applewood cane that Hayworth had given him when he explained his injuries - the witch had blessed it and given it to him for free so long as he continued to come to work on time. He limped out of the bedroom, the pain culminated around his left side which he favored gingerly. He was thankful that he was able to walk again, even with his powers apparently metabolizing or absorbing the poison he had only been able to hold his own weight for about a day now._ _

__The sound of the TV led him into the living room but where he had expected to see Ben and Sally he quickly noticed the small horns poking up over the back of the couch. He tilted his head and moved forward slowly, he stopped when he could use the couch to steady himself._ _

__Kenzie sat comfortably in an oversized cushion, her big green eyes that so resembled her father’s flicked over the contents of the cheesy monster B movie she was watching. She held the remote in her lap protectively and kicked her legs, her mouth moving as the action played out of the screen._ _

__“Pray tell what’s got you up at this late hour?” He leaned over the back of the couch and rolled his head against the cushion._ _

__She glanced over at him, “What are _you_ doing up in the middle of the night?” She countered. _ _

__“Ah- You first, munchkin.”_ _

__“I had a nightmare--” She opened her mouth like she was going to elaborate but instead went back to watching the screen._ _

__Klaus frowned, “Why didn’t you wake me up?”_ _

__She shrugged, looking down at the remote and beginning to fiddle with the rubber buttons, “I didn’t want to worry you…”_ _

__A surge of something akin to panic welled up in his already aching chest; she wasn’t old enough to handle nightmares by herself - she was seven for fucks sake. She couldn’t even get on most roller coasters and still needed her steak cut up into bites. Klaus still helped her get ready in the morning and controlled her curly mane of black hair. She still cried when she fell and scraped her knee wanting her momma to kiss it and make it better - she was still just a baby. She still needed him - right?!_ _

__Rather than beg the 7 year old for validation he hummed and settled his head on the back of the couch leaning all of his weight against it, “Did you make your bad dreams tea?”_ _

__The little one nodded proudly and held up an empty mug with tea leaves stuck in the bottom, “Three turns to the left, four turns to the right and I said all of the words in the spell all by myself!”_ _

__“That’s fantastic!” Klaus’ voice cracked unconvincingly and he cleared his throat. He gingerly walked around to the front of the couch and plopped down on the soft cushion with sigh as some of the pressure was taken off his legs._ _

__He sat back and glanced over at his daughter, “You know, the last part of the spell is when you go back to sleep or at least - I don’t remember it including giant lava spiders for good dreams.”_ _

__“Maybe it doesn't work if you don’t do it.” She said quietly with a soft shrug._ _

__He reached over and squeezed her hand lightly then turned to watch the dramatic happenings on the screen. They sat silently for a while as the fictional California was attacked by “Lavalanchulas” that spit fire and ate people’s faces off._ _

__“Are you old enough to be watching this?”_ _

__“I’m seven, how would I know?” She quipped back expertly._ _

__He chuckled, “Fair enough.”_ _

__They fell back into silence for a while until a surprisingly disturbing scene actually made him jump, “Shit - They just exploded out of that poor bitch’s face…” He glanced over, “You know this is fake, right?”_ _

__She made a face in response._ _

__“Well, it's a little late to change it now…”_ _

__“Would we survive the- the lava spiders?” She mimicked mandibles spitting fire and lava and it made Klaus giggle._ _

__“Honey, with our history we’d probably just take one home. We already have the amenities for a flaming arachnid.”_ _

__“And name it Marvin?”_ _

__“Yeah, we can name it Marvin.”_ _

__“Nice.”_ _

__Klaus grinned but soon his face fell slightly as he noticed the clock on the wall coming in at 3:38. He bit his bottom lip and tried to shift himself to the side to face his daughter with much difficulty with his weakened legs. He cringed and ended up in a half angled position attempting to look as casual as possible given the circumstances._ _

__“Kenz?”_ _

__She was still watching the Tv but she looked over at him and curled her legs up, “Uh-huh?”_ _

__He grimaced, “Pumpkin, I just want you to know that-- If you’re not-- If you don’t want to go back to _that_ place, you know, where momma grew up then we won’t make you go. You can stay with Liev or- or even help out at the shop, I’m sure Hayworth would love the help.”_ _

__“Dave- Dad and I talked about it and we would never make you go into that place if you weren’t comfortable with it. Hell, I wouldn’t blame you at all.”_ _

__Kenzie chewed absently on her lip and twisted the blanket wrapped around her in her fingers, “But he’s not there anymore, right?”_ _

__“No- He’s-He’s gone. He’s never going to hurt you or me again.”_ _

__“Why did he die?” She asked hesitantly._ _

__It was a strange question and Klaus fumbled on what to say, “Well, he was old as fossilized shit, you know and apparently kidnapping children is just tough on the ol’ ticker. Sometimes people just have heart attacks, their heart just stops working.”_ _

__He swallowed hard, “Um- How do you- how do you feel about that?”_ _

__She shrugged, “I didn’t like him very much.”_ _

__Kenzie had been pretty tight lipped about everything that had happened while she was in the brief care of Reginald Hargreeves leaving both Klaus and Dave reeling on finding a balance of trying to give her space while trying to be available if she needed to talk. Everything they knew about the experience came from Ben but Kenzie had been vague about how she felt which was a difficult thing for Klaus to accept since his daughter had never been vague or quiet about anything since the moment she yelled “SHIT!” at him from her crib in her purple ladybug onesie while he bled out from rat bites on his hands._ _

__“You and me both, pumpkin.”_ _

__He waited patiently and after a few moments she nodded and looked back up, “I want to go with you and dad.” She said decisively, “I want to see aunt Allison and Uncle Luther and I don’t want to be afraid.”_ _

__Klaus nodded, “Okay, well if you change you mind everything will be fine. Also, they would come to see you, I’m pretty sure your aunt Ally wants to see you more than she wants to see me. And your uncle Luther’s been on the moon protecting us from aliens so he’s gonna be real surprised.” He smiled almost sadly as his thoughts went to his severely estranged brother, “But he’s going to love you so much.”_ _

__Her face broke out into a grin and she wiggled down into the blanket with a giggle, probably imagining her two real life superhero aunt and uncle finally in the same spot._ _

__He pointed a finger close to her face, “But I love you more and don’t you forget it.”_ _

__He poked her nose lightly and she giggled, falling over until she was snuggled under his right side, “I love you, momma.”_ _

__He rubbed her arm lightly and shifted into a more comfortable position facing the highly CGI-ed B-movie madness on the screen. Kenzie felt like a space heater on full blast against his side, warming through his now constant painfully Cold temperature. He smiled and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the painful thrumming in his chest and just focus on the moment._ _

__“I love you too, pumpkin.”_ _

__*********************************************************************************************************_ _

__When Dave woke up he was disorientated and it took him several moments after sitting up and staring around the room to remember what was happening and also quelle the panic that shot through his chest when he realized that Klaus was no longer next to him. It had been several days since he’d actually slept through the night, not to mention wrapped so heavily in sleep that he didn’t bolt awake at every little sound._ _

__He rubbed his face and made his way with heavy footfalls out of the bedroom and into the living area. He found Ben’s blue form perched on a stool flipping through a newspaper, frowning slightly. Coming quickly around the corner from the kitchen Sally skipped forward holding a relatively large homemade looking book under her arm. She seemed to be in better spirits than most other people around the house lately._ _

__A moment later she was hugging onto his arm and leaning against him sweetly, her ghostly blue form inadvertently sending a chill up his skin and down his spine. “Mornin’ Dave!” She announced in a hushed tone._ _

__He leaned down and picked her up, putting her on his hip and walking towards the kitchen. “Good morning, Sal.” He yawned and shook his head lightly to wake himself up._ _

__“Did you find anything interesting last night?” He settled her on the counter and her legs swung back and forth happily._ _

__Ben glanced up and a fond smirk flashed over his features before he went back to his reading._ _

__“I did.” She opened the book and flipped to the most recent page. Dave looked down with slightly blurry eyes as she held it up for him to see. Inside was a hastily sketched picture of what looked like Koi fish or some variation and on the other side was a crinkled chip bag with some artistic advertising displaying a surfer with his hands up against a trippy backdrop, it was taped at the corners and still had remements of whatever trash can she found it in._ _

__“That’s awesome! Ben’s been taking you to some pretty cool spots hasn’t he?”_ _

__She nodded and turned the book back towards her and started flipping through older pages of adventures and discoveries._ _

__He ruffled the side of her hair that didn’t have the ever present head wound, “I love it - you wanna tell me about it while I’m making breakfast this morning?”_ _

__Sally thought about it for a moment then nodded, humming lightly to herself._ _

__Dave nodded, yawning again and left the ghost child sitting on the counter and circled around into the living room. He found Klaus sprawled out in what looked like a relatively uncomfortable position that made him look drunk, with his legs out and the rest of his body slouched vertically against the cushions. Kenzie was cuddled against his side with her jaw squished, again in an uncomfortable lookin position, against his stomach._ _

__He looked at the time and decided he could let them sleep for at least 20 more minutes before they ran the risk of being late for the funeral._ _

__“We found them like that when we got back.” Ben glanced up from his paper._ _

__“I can’t believe I didn’t wake up--” Dave picked up Klaus’ cane left leaning against the wall and placed it next to him on the couch, “I don’t know what got into me.”_ _

__“Exhaustion, probably.”_ _

__Dave moved to stand next to Ben and crossed his arms, “I’m going to be honest with you, I just want to get today over with-- Not that…”_ _

__“Oh no, I get it. I want this behind us too. Also, yeah, we’re a big bunch of assholes so it’s going to be real interesting.”_ _

__Dave made a face of pained recognition, “Exactly, like - are we going to be okay? I-” He thought about something for a moment then dropped his voice, “Klaus keeps saying that if Luther finds out what happened he’s going to kill him or hurt him or something and honestly, I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.”_ _

__“Under normal circumstances? Sure. I’d say Luther could do some damage. But, I mean, he doesn’t even know that Kenzie exists and he’s going to love her just like he loves Claire. I think Klaus is paranoid.” He paused, “I mean, with good reason.”_ _

__“He’s a lot of things right now.” Dave crossed his arms and leaned against the edge of the island, “I got him a therapy appointment next week - a day after Kenzie’s first appointment.”_ _

__Ben sat back, “No shit?”_ _

__“No shit. I’ve been trying to get him to see someone for three years.”_ _

__The ghost chuckled, “As always, Katz, I’m impressed. Do you think it’ll help?”_ _

__Dave shrugged, “I hope so. It saved my ass after I got home... And I get that professional mental health is like garlic to a vampire for your family but I think it’ll do both of them some good.“_ _

__“How dare you besmirch my family and our impressive array of severely unhealthy coping mechanisms.”_ _

__They both chuckled and after a few moments Dave spoke again, looking directly at Ben, “And what about you?”_ _

__It took the ghost a while to respond, “I want to see my family and I never want to think about what happened again. This is going to sound bad but- I’m glad he’s gone. He did what he did to us and I didn’t care what happened to him but seeing him put Kenzie through the degradation and the dehumanization while I couldn’t do anything but watch… Honestly I wish that it could have been me that killed him.”_ _

__“I think that’s understandable.”_ _

__It was a little while later as the sounds and smells from the kitchen overwhelmed the apartment that Kenzi’s head raised up slowly and she stretched, rolling over away from her father and plopping to her feet, wearily following the smells until she walked into Dave and wrapped sleepy arms around his waist. Rubbing her face against his apron. He smiled, keeping one hand stirring a pile of potatoes and the other ruffling the hair between her horns._ _

__“Still tired?”_ _

__She nodded with a pout and reached up to grab a piece of potato out of the burning hot pan and chew on it idly. “Mmm, But I’m more hungry - I’m starving actually.”_ _

__“Good to know your appetite is still going strong.”_ _

__“I’m fading away, Dave.”_ _

__He chuckled and patted her on the back, “10-4. Why don’t you go grab a quick shower then when you get back breakfast’ll be ready.”_ _

__“M’kay, I’ll try to survive…” She yawned loudly and stumbled away like a zombie like to the bathroom._ _

__Ben shook his head as her back disappeared down the hallway, “Thank god you showed up, there’s no way we could have kept up with her eating habits for much longer.”_ _

__“She’s something, that’s for sure.” Dave grinned and went back to tending to the stove._ _

__A few minutes later they heard a thump from the living room._ _

__“Ah fuck! My vertebrae.”_ _

__Ben continued filling out his crossword puzzle without looking up, “Your boyfriend’s up, Dave.”_ _

__**********************************************************************************************************_ _

__“Make sure to keep him in the bag and **don’t let him out** ” Dave called over his shoulder as he moved out of the hallway and into their bedroom. For something that he couldn’t see or hear, Rot-rot’s whereabouts and safety took a lot of his time. _ _

__He shut the door lightly and leaned back against it with a soft sigh. Already prepared in a black button up, dress pants and modest black shoes he had to borrow from Nova for the occasion. He was shaved and cleaned up but it wasn’t unusual for him to be the first one ready to go._ _

__He found Klaus sitting hunched over on the bed staring lethargically at the floor. He had an almost see through tank top underneath what Dave would describe as a jacket for decorative purposes only with ruffled edges and a flare out back. Brightly colored underwear. And finally a pair of black skinny jeans were pooled around his ankles._ _

__He looked up as Dave entered and he smirked but he didn’t fake a smile or say anything to break the moment which Dave was thankful for. The Seance fell backwards with a groan and closed his eyes, his breath hitched at the movement and Dave moved closer, quietly kneeling down next to his fiance on the bed._ _

__“Need some help?”_ _

__“Actually I was thinking I would go brave for this occasion. Imagine the looks on their faces when I waltz back into the old family home Winnie the Pooh style.”_ _

__Dave raised an eyebrow and waited. A moment later Klaus threw his elbow over his face and let out a shaky sigh._ _

__“Fuck. Him.”_ _

__Dave gave a reaffirming nod and placed a hand on Klaus’ bare knee, with soft touches he started massaging up and down his Fiance’s legs. Using his palms and thumbs to get blood flow back into his extremities. This seemed to have helped to get him back up and walking over the past few days._ _

__“Fuck him.” Dave agreed._ _

__Klaus sat back up and exhaled softly as Dave moved down his shins and rubbed behind his knees. Fingers spreading a slight warmth over his bluish- grey freezing skin and lightly bringing some feeling over the top layer of skin._ _

__“You seem to be particularly up and at ‘em this morning - looking forward to mingling with my family?”_ _

__“Oh my excitement just can’t be contained - especially looking forward to when Diego beats my ass. Which will happen, at some point today I’m assuming.”_ _

__Klaus tilted his head in confusion while Dave slowly massaged his legs, “What?”_ _

__Dave glanced up, bringing a soft hand to stroke down the bruised temple where the lamp smashed into the side of Klaus’ head._ _

__Klaus waved him off, “I’m going to tell them I fell down the stairs. End of story - besides he’s got a lot of brooding on his plate today I don’t think he’ll give a shit about my boo-boos.”_ _

__Dave smirked, “Right.” Then he added with a pat to his partner’s knee, “Can you stand?”_ _

__“Yeah, yeah, I think so…”_ _

__Dave helped him onto his feet and Klaus used his partner’s shoulder to steady himself. He winced slightly as the tight material slid up his legs, partially due to the tenderness of the skin and partially due to a private sense of embarrassment._ _

__“Thank you, Dave.”_ _

__Dave chuckled and carefully slid the pants up Klaus’ body and dutifully zipped and buttoned them up, “Don’t thank me. I need you to pay attention, I’m going to need this when I’m old and decrepit and you’ll be taking care of me.”_ _

__Klaus snorted, “What makes you think I won’t be decrepit right next to your saggy ass?”_ _

__“You’re immortal, for one thing.”_ _

__Klaus shifted the fabric down slightly and wiggled uncomfortably in the tight trousers, “Not at this rate I’m not.”_ _

__Dave stood up and Klaus rested his weight against him while his fiance rubbed sturdy lines up and down his spine. He hummed at the contact and closed his eyes. “Besides, that’s what people have kids for, right? It’ll be a good incentive for Kenzie to get a good job to pay to deal with our sorry asses.”_ _

__“With the way that girl eats I doubt she’ll have the overhead.”_ _

__“Meh, you’re right. Let’s just make a Thelma and Louise Pact and brick down the gas pedal while we make old love in the backseat over a cliff.”_ _

__“It’s a date.”_ _

__Klaus nuzzled into Dave’s neck and relaxed into his arms, letting himself be swayed slightly back and forth for several moments. He was so looking forward to getting this over with - he wanted everything to go back to normal, he wanted the pain to stop and he wished he could erase what his father had done to them. He wanted it so much it frustrated him. But for a little while even the constant aching in his body seemed to take a backseat to the intimate touches._ _

__“Momma! There’s a spook in the sink!” A loud clanking sound followed Kenzie’s loud informative announcement, “It’s stuck! Can I burn it?!”_ _

__“No!” Both men yelled back simultaneously._ _

__Clank!_ _

__“Nevermind, it’s a chunky fairy!”_ _

__“It’s definitely something weird, Klaus - You didn’t open that weird box that dude brought in, did you?” Ben’s voice confirmed from the kitchen._ _

__“Don’t talk to it! Don’t touch it!” Klaus groaned as Dave kissed the top of his head as their nice moment was interrupted, “On my way!”_ _

__“Klaus?” Dave’s voice caused him to turn in the doorway against his cane and look at him._ _

__“Let’s just get through today, alright? It’s going to be okay.”_ _

__Klaus smiled and gave a little salute before disappearing through the doorway._ _

__************************************************************************************************************_ _

__“That’s a big house…” Sally peaked out from behind Ben and stared up with wide eyes._ _

__The family stood outside on the sidewalk taking in the grandeur of Klaus and Ben’s childhood home, seeming even more looming after the ordeal they had just survived. It was drizzling and the non-ghost members were standing underneath a big black umbrella that Dave held high. Klaus was in a puffy parka smoking a cigarette staring silently at the mansion with an uncomfortable sneer._ _

__“I think it’s-- a bit much.” Kenzie said, her tone a little forced and loud. She backed up until she was standing against Dave’s arm and he protectively put a hand on her shoulder. He glanced over at Klaus._ _

__“How are you feeling, Kenzie benzie?”_ _

__“I’m fine- Why? There’s no one in there, right? Just an old dead guy?”_ _

__“Not even that - when you’re that evil and ugly they just cremate you.” Klaus made a concerned face at his fiance._ _

__Dave cleared his throat, “No one’s going to hurt us but if you start not feeling fine we can leave, okay?”_ _

__“I know, I know! Let’s just go!”_ _

__She said this but didn’t make a move forward and they stood there in the drizzling rain under Dave’s umbrella staring at the daunting fortress._ _

__Finally Klaus threw his cigarette down and crushed it with his heel, “It’s funeral time, baby!”_ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family finally make it to the funeral and spread out trying to find everyone. Also, a tangent on Spaghetti that the author probably should cut but didn't want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Wow, this one completely got away from me! Hopefully, most of the chapters won't be this long and spread out but honestly, I just really want to interact with everyone and I am extremely impatient to bring Five into this story ASAP. Holy shit, thank you guys so much for all the incredible comments on the first chapter, it just blew my mind!! 💝💝💝 Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you enjoy!!

“Ah-“ Klaus opened the front doors of the academy and took in a deep breath, stumbling forward slightly as he put all of his weight back on his legs and raised his hands, “Home sweet hell.”

He glanced around at the seemingly empty hugeness of the whole building and then turned back to his family who were standing in a tight nit unit near the door, “Always awkward being the first person to the party.”

“You mean funeral?”

“That all depends on your attitude- For instance I’ve been in my childhood home for a full two minutes and no one has called me a disappointment – that’s a cause for a celebration!” He clapped and his tone seemed to ease some of the tension, especially with the girls as they took a few steps into the mansion.

“Let’s explore! See what we can lift – Pumpkin, you’ve got your bag, feel free to snag anything gold plated – Jesus shit, Pogo!” Klaus turned around only to find the old monkey standing a few feet away, a soft amused expression on his old face.

“Don’t sneak up on us like that, Pogo, we’re in _mourning_ ” Klaus drawled, hand still over his chest like he was counting his heartbeat. He swallowed and let his arm fall, taking a firm hold of Kenzie’s hand and tugging her a little closer.

Dave glared from behind them, sending a quick look towards Ben who was remaining somewhat invisible at the moment and standing like he was ready to grab the family and bolt if anything happened. Ben had told them that Pogo was there with them at the house and had seen Kenzie, however, he had not been any more involved then that as far as Ben understood it. More importantly, Kenzie hadn’t seen Dr. Pogo as he kept a distance.

“Master Klaus, I’m so happy you could make it. And I see you’ve brought your family.” He gestured towards the people he could see.

Klaus let out a forced laugh, “Such a touching reunion – It would be such a shame if something random –“ He shrugged his shoulders, staring daggers into his old guardian, “If something that would interfere with the fung shui of the house while we’re all here- managing and coping together in grief as a family came out…”

Pogo observed him for several moments while Klaus did not take his eyes off the monkey or his hand away from Kenzie.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, master Klaus.” Pogo said with a bright smile.  
Klaus raised an eyebrow and rolled his jaw a few times contemplating their tense unsaid agreement before finally sighing, “Fantastic! Pogo, this is my daughter, my real life offspring, Kenzie—Kenzie, this is your… Uncle? Grandpa? Pogo?”

“Dr. Pogo is fine – “His eyes seemed to crinkle with happiness as he looked over her in a way that Klaus hadn’t seen a very long time, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, my dear.” He held out a hand and Kenzie took it shyly after glancing over at Ben for approval.

“You seem very proud.” Pogo pointed out in a softer voice as he inspected the father’s expression.

“Of course I’m proud of her – look at her- look at this face…” He squished her cheeks and tickled her until she started giggling then leaned down and kissed her a few times between her horns, holding her close, “She’s the best!” She giggled and squirmed, much of the original fear melting away.

He made to stand back up but nearly toppled over as a sharp pain speared it’s way up his leg, the poison bitterly reminding him of the reality of their situation– before he could collapse, Dave grabbed his arm and pulled him back up in a straight pose. Klaus waved off the moment as Pogo’s face turned to concern.

He took a deep breath, “And this! This is my Fiancé, Dave.” Then he added with a slightly breathless flourish, “Finally got one of ‘em to stick.”

“Dr. Pogo.” Dave nodded curtly but did not reach out a hand to shake.

He seemed to get the message and did the same, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, master Dave.”

Klaus wasn’t paying much attention to this interaction; he was looking behind them where Ben and Sally were defiantly staying invisible. He made a face and tossed his thumb back towards Pogo. “Hmm?” He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“No, not yet. I’m sure I’ll see him in a little bit.”

“Suit yourself, it’s just going to make it sob-ier the longer you wait.”

“What was that?” Pogo broke in 

Klaus turned quickly towards him. “Sorry – not you, Pogo – Well this has been adequately tense, I think I’ll show off the ol’ family _le patrimoine_.” He said in a bad French accent and began to move forward past Pogo.

“Would you like me to take your bag for you, master Kenzie?” He gestured for the obnoxiously bright Spongebob Squarepants backpack that she had hanging over her shoulder which contrasted hysterically against her black funeral wear that they had bought for the occasion.

Klaus put his hand up quickly, “That’s very kind, Pogo but she’s very attached to it – and needs it for – comfort, you know – she just lost her grandfather.”

Pogo didn’t look convinced but he nodded nonetheless, “Very well.”

They walked farther into the house, specifically looking for anyone else but in a mansion of this size they knew that it was very possible to have multiple people wandering around and never running into each other. The place was always big and cold but at the moment the emptiness seemed to overwhelm them.

Kenzie had started to calm down after Klaus pointed out things and told stories about some of the dumb things he and his siblings had done during their time in the academy. The absence of people and the many distractions brought out the old talkative child who was starting to walk faster and point at things, asking questions and making loud statements.

Sally was clinging onto Ben’s hand with both of hers – letting slip little “Oohs..” as they stepped further into the home. Ben almost felt guilty about bringing the smallest ghost into this situation, out of her peaceful little world but he was happy she was here and happy he had someone to fade into invisibility with if the situation needed it.

“Who’s that?” Kenzie asked loudly and pointed down the large open living hall towards the one of the many fireplaces in the academy.

At the end of the room they could vaguely see Grace sitting with her back towards them in an ornate wooden chair staring at the flames, light blue processors just slightly visible in the dim lighting cast by the gray day.

“That’s your—” Ben glanced over at his brother whose expression remained unreadable, “Grandmother?”

Kenzie fidgeted staring at the figure with a look of uncertainty that none of them were used to seeing in the child.

“You got your middle name from her.” Ben explained.

“Mom?” Klaus called out but the android did not move or acknowledge the visitors.

Kenzie stepped forward, pulling away from Dave’s hand and trotted down the hall towards Grace who looked more statue-like than any of them had seen before – it was off-putting. They followed her a few steps behind. The little one stumbled a little as she got closer but then peeked her head curiously into Grace’s frame of view.

“Hello!” Kenzie gazed up at the still perfectly young and beautiful robot that stood in as her grandmother.

Grace blinked and with a soft flash of blue from her temple, her head tilted down, and a bright smile flashed over her features. She let out a sharp joyful gasp, “Why, there you are!”

“I have been looking everywhere for you! Silly goose!” She playfully poked her granddaughter’s nose and stood back to analyze the child.

The other adults in the room exchanged glances.

Kenzie’s face wrinkled in a rabbit like scrunch and she let out a quick giggle, still staring up at the perfectly put together mother figure. “I’m right here!”

“Yes, you are! And I’m so happy for it!” Her fingers affectionately traced over Kenzie’s cheek, following the curve of her face all the way up to the tip of her horn, “Aren’t you just beautiful!”

“What are you doing?” Kenzie asked curiously.

Grace blinked a few times and looked towards the flames, “Why, I was just-“She paused and stared off into the distance, “When did you get here, dear? Are you hungry? I can make some cookies!”

Kenzie quickly forgot about her question and clapped excitedly, “Yes, please!

“Mom?”

Klaus and Ben said the word in unison and the ghost finally drew enough power from his brother to appear in a solid blue form. Grace looked up from the child and her eyes flashed as they fell on Klaus’ face as if she hadn’t even noticed him standing there, “Klaus, darling!”  
She walked up and gave him a soft hug, he hugged her back with the arm that wasn’t using the cane. He shrugged at his brother.

“Mom, can you see me?”

Grace pulled away with a polite smile and then turned towards Ben, her smile faded into a soft pout of uncertainty and she tilted her head. The ghosts were rarely able to interact successfully with electronics without them going haywire. Ben could see her processing the image in front of her and he knew that it was a long shot but his chest constricted painfully as her blue robotic eyes scanned over and over where he was standing but her face did not change expression.

“Mom?” He tried again, a little louder.

Grace’s head twitched and her eyes moved faster up and down the place where he was standing. “Ben?”

“Mom – I’m right here, can you see me?”

“Ben, dear, where are you?!”

He stepped forward and gently placed his hands on the sides of her arms. The robot jumped and nearly took a step back, her head moving and attempting to figure out what was standing in front of her, unable to calculate through the interference.

“Mom, you can hug me – if you want. I know you can’t see me but I’m right here – I promise.”

He gingerly, feeling incredibly awkward, leaned forward and gave her a cautious hug, understanding that there was a chance this would confuse her even more and she would push him away. However, it seemed as if her touch sensors were able to pick up something and as if by pure instinct, she pulled her arms around him.

“Ben, where have you been? You missed dinner.” Suddenly she sounded distraught and gripped him tighter.

A small sound escaped his throat and he melted into the hug, all at once forgetting about the other people in the room.

“I’m sorry, mom, it won’t happen again.”

She hummed and rubbed his back, “I know it won’t – you’ve always been such a good boy. We all slip up, once in a while, after all!”

He laughed, blinking away tears and finally stepped back, “Thank you, mom.”

She held onto his arm tightly and suddenly her head moved back and forth in small movements like she was seeing something, but she was not able to make out a specific form. And her face fell into a puzzled frown.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to be very far. I’m going to go over here now, okay?”

“Don’t be late for dinner, darling. You know how I worry.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

It took a lot of effort but he quickly took a step back out of her eyeline and her stopped flicking back and forth. She stood up straight and blinked a few times before flashing a maternal smile at her granddaughter.

Dave leaned over close to Klaus’ ear, “That hurt.”

Klaus huffed and made a face. “Well, great catching up with you, Ma – by the way, this is my Fiancé, Dave.”

She reached out a hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dave! Please let me know if there is anything that you need.”

He shook her hand gently, “It’s good to meet you too, Mrs. Hargreeves. And, thank you, ma’am.”

Klaus grinned, “Isn’t he sweet? We’re going to go find everyone else now, mom.”

She stood up straight and nodded amiably, “Okay, well, make sure to have him home by 9, young man!” She wagged her finger towards Dave who glanced over at his finance.

“We’re going to stay for the funeral, mom, so we’re not leaving the house yet.”

“What?”

Klaus and Ben exchanged unnerved glances at each other, “The funeral – you know… Because dad died?”

“Oh! Yes…” Then she added a little more somberly, “Of course.”

Klaus reached out and took Kenzie’s hand, tugging her away gently. She reached up and waved, “I’ll see you soon, grandma… I love you?” 

“And I love you, dear - don’t get into too much trouble now.”

*********************************************************************

“Christ on a cracker…” Klaus groaned as he plopped heavily down on his childhood bed with an impressive bounce. He was regretting both his decision to go with skinny pants and his assurance that he was sturdy enough to be walking up multiple flights of stairs. He was not and he was paying for it. 

“Biggest house in the city and not a single mainstream elevator - thanks pops…” He closed his eyes and exhaled as the pumping of his heart caused the pain to spike all over his body. 

Kenzie sat down on the edge of the bed looking around at her father’s childhood bedroom - a misfit collection of art, pillows, demented scrawls and assorted candles and fairy lights. She stopped and glanced over at him with some concern and he unconsciously scooted over and patted the side of the bed. 

“Why won’t you let me write on my walls?” She pointed out first thing as she laid on her back next to him and stared up at the impossible words on the ceiling along with stick on glow-in-the-dark stars and hearts that were fading with age.

Klaus giggled and stroked a finger down one of the ridiculously emo poetry. A shining example of his own teenage angst. “It’s the lease, love … I mean it’s not like we’ve ever gotten a security deposit back but I like to at least pretend we’re trying.”

“Hm.” Kenzie responded, not impressed with his reasoning. 

“What do you think of all this?” He gestured around them, “It’s where your old man grew up.”

“It’s- A lot.”

Klaus doubted that she was just talking about the house. 

“A lot?” He turned to his side to face her, “You wanna talk about it?” He cringed slightly, not knowing if he should be pushing or - it’s not like he ever dealt with any of his shit and here he was trying to help Kenzie with her own trauma - which he caused. 

She shrugged, “I don’t really know what to talk about.” She said lightly, wringing the top of her Spongebob backpack in her hands. 

Klaus nodded and rolled back on his side, “That’s fair.”

They laid there for several minutes in silence staring at the ceiling when Kenzie spoke up again, “I feel like a bad person.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn’t react, “Why do you - why do you feel like a bad person?”

She sat up and leaned with her back against his side, staring at her lap, “I don’t feel sad - but sometimes I feel really, really mad… But I don’t want to be a bad person so…”

_Kenzie stoically in front of the bathroom mirror, eyes cast down to the monocle that had consumed her curiosity for the past few days, unable to stop thinking about the strange things she saw when she looked through it. On one hand she was kind of attached to it and on the other hand she hated the fact that every time she moved it through her fingers she thought of her grandfather’s cold face and her mom’s seizing body._

_She bit her lip then raised it up to her eye facing the mirror, all at once the environment disappeared and standing in front of her was an image of someone she didn’t recognize. A girl surrounded by darkness with black eyes and sharp teeth, deadly sharp horns pointing unabashedly towards the sky. An unnerving wicked grin as the world around her crumbled in an infernal flame that burned her eyes to look at and her eyes locked with the terrifying figure in the mirror._

_In the brutal flames she saw movement - a giant figure, red and reptilian with a shiny green eyes and four clawed legs, a spiked tail whipped around dangerously but the figure in the reflection didn’t stir. The dragon crept closer until it was towering behind her and it inhaled with a deafening growl._

_Kenzie gasped and dropped the monocle just as it was about to breath fire. The world was back to normal and she cautiously looked at the mirror again, standing in the reflection was a little girl with big (Maybe slightly lopsided depending on who you asked) green eyes and small horns that curled back and around as if reflecting her already curly black hair._

_Kenzie hugged herself and walked out of the bathroom, stuffing the monocle back in her pocket before finding her uncle Ben and curling up under his arm while he read._

Klaus put a hand on her back and rubbed small circles between her shoulders, “You’re not a bad person, Kenzie. It’s okay to feel like shit, pumpkin.” He smiled, “No one’s expecting you to feel like a million bucks - That’s why we got you an appointment with a doctor who- who specializes in feeling like shit for a bit. She’s gonna help you with all that -” He made wiggle motions around her head, “Cooked spaghetti in your head that’s all tangled up with the meatballs--”

“Gross.”

“You don’t like spaghetti?” He asked skeptically. 

She shook her head. 

“Because I’m like 98% sure you like spaghetti.”

“I’ve never liked spaghetti - It’s gross!”

He put a finger up, “Now, I know that’s not true - when you were a baby you’d go to town on some spaghetti and meatballs. I remember because it stained like hell and you liked to flip your plate like a drunk viking when you were done.” He made the various hand motions as he spoke and she actually smiled. 

“Spaghetti's gross.”

Klaus leaned up on his elbow, “No- you’re confused, you don’t like Dad’s spaghetti because he makes it right and also he puts olives in the sauce. You like momma’s because I make it with hot dogs and $1.69 sauce.” He waved his hand, “Anyway - we’re getting off topic. The point is…”

He let his hand fall to the bed as she turned to face him, “The point is pumpkin, there’s no wrong way to feel and we’re here with you no matter how long you feel like shit.”

She glanced down and nodded. 

“And those are some of the things the spaghetti and hot dog doctor is going to say - until then, you wanna go see what we can lift? We can pawn it then get ice cream!”

Kenzie jumped up at the thought, “Yeah!”

Klaus laughed and rolled back into a seated position, his eyes caught a glimpse of something bright amongst his morose teenage aesthetic and he reached out to pull a small unicorn plushie from behind his pillow. Despite its age it was still delightfully soft and bright with pastel pinks and a light holographic rainbow horn. He held it up and it immediately caught the 7 year old’s eyes. 

He put it on his knee and lifted its floppy arms up then spoke in a goofy mock kermit the frog type voice, “You’re not a bad person, Kenzie! You’re my favorite person!” he gesticulated as he spoke and she giggled as he pushed it into her arms and she hugged it against the chest.

He stood up and patted her shoulder as she looked at the toy, “Mx. Unicorn is a trusted confidant and you can tell them anything - trust me, they’ve seen some shit and they’ve always been tight lipped. They always had my back and they’ll always have your back.” He winked seemingly at the stuffed toy, “Now, let's go see what we can wreck around here…” 

****************************************************************************

Dave meandered through the halls of the Umbrella Academy, Ben had just left him after they had gotten into a long conversation about the history of this place and he currently didn’t know where anybody else was so he just continued to look through the countless artifacts, paintings, and antiques that gave this place it’s creepy, otherworldly vibe. 

To Dave, this place was a living testament to all the active struggles he saw in Klaus’ life - it was cold, separated, filled with echoes, filled with way too many posters depicting children fighting. He could imagine little Klaus, the man now who needed blankets, lights, and people around him at all times, wandering around alone in the dark haunted by ghosts that he had no way of defending himself against. The thought made his chest constrict protectively and he suddenly felt the need to go find Kenzie. 

He heard a floorboard creek and he snapped his head around to see Diego, completely decked out in his vigilante outfit standing sideways at the other end of the hall inspecting him. 

Dave raised a hand to give an awkwards wave but his soon to be brother-in-law didn’t respond and just turned and walked away. 

He sighed and dropped his hand, that was definitely going to be a problem in the future. 

*********************************************************************

Ben was sitting staring at the old painting of Five, completely lost in his own thoughts now that Dave was off exploring the home by himself when the soft clicking of heels made his head snap over to the entrance of the room. His face softened emotionally as Allison walked into the room holding the small hand of a very awestruck Claire. 

From some of the more recent conversations he had overheard. He knew that Allison and Patrick were having issues so he really wasn’t sure if Claire would be here - seeing her in person for the first time and not in a photo shocked him more than he was expecting. 

He stood up from where he was seated on the arm of a couch to face them and as he did do Allison stopped in her tracks. She inhaled sharply and her mouth dropped as she took in the sight of Ben standing in his corporeal blue body. Claire looked between the two figures with big, expectant eyes. 

“What’s wrong?”

Ben huffed, not taking his eyes off them “Hey.”

Allison’s hands flew to cover her mouth, “Oh my god -” She moved closer, staring at him - seemingly not believing her own eyes, “Klaus told me but I-”

She stopped mid- sentence and shook her head, running up and embracing him without another moment of hesitation. Ben pulled her in tightly and they stood there silently for several moments until Allison pulled away and wiped some tears carefully away from her eyes with a short sniff. 

“Ben, I--”

“I know - It's so good to see you. I’ve missed you all, so much.” He smiled then looked down at the small face staring at him in wonder, holding on diligently to the hem of her mother’s shirt. 

“And look at you!” He knelt down to her level, “I um- I know you haven’t heard from me but I’m your uncle Ben and I’ve been so excited to meet you!” 

The little one, who had never seen a man who was fully blue and partially see through, raised an eyebrow suspiciously. 

Allison came back after taking a few steps away to compose herself, sat down on the couch and took her daughter’s hand, “Claire, baby - This is your uncle Ben, you remember him from your stories, right?”

She nodded, “That he’s always watching over me... ”

Her mother nodded adamantly, “Yeah, baby, he’s your guardian angel.”

Claire’s face lit up and she walked into Ben’s arms, he wrapped her up in a hug and sighed happily. He lifted the child up onto his hip and set her down on the couch between them. It was something that seemed so simple and yet impossible - that he would have the opportunity to see his sister and meet his niece from the other side of the country. 

He was lost in the moment when Allison’s voice cut through his internal dialogue, “This is real - You’ve always been here?”

Ben laughed, “Yeah, I- Klaus and I are usually able to just pull from each other so most of the time as long as he’s relatively close I can stay corporeal. It’s great.”

He swallowed, “It’s special because I- The fact that I got to meet both of my nieces and see you guys thrive - It makes me happy that I didn’t go into the light.” He laughed, “Sometimes being a ghost is a pain in the butt and being stuck to Klaus’ side can be a nightmare but-” He looked at Claire whose big brown eyes were stuck on him, “I wouldn’t trade this for the world.” 

Allison reached out a hand, “I should have visited sooner. I’ve missed you guys and I-” She paused and sighed, “I guess a part of me didn’t believe that you’d actually be here.”

“It’s okay - I don’t blame you. We’ve always struggled with this family thing.”

Allison laughed and gestured to the house and one of the many paintings of Reginald hanging on the wall, “I wonder why!”

She sat back, “Where’s Klaus and Kenzie?”

“They’re upstairs doing god know what -” He chuckled, “I am lacking in my supervising responsibilities and I’m sure something will be lit on fire for it.”

Allison shook her head and grinned, “She a wild child?”

“Oh I was talking about him.”

They both giggled and Allison reached out a hand to touch Ben’s wrist again as if verifying that he was actually still there, “Well, speaking of lacking - I didn’t even know I was an aunt until after she was already 4 so I’m sure I have a lot of catching up to do.” She smiled, “And they’re - they’re sober, right?”

“Klaus had a few relapses when she was a baby - nothing too bad but he’s basically been sober since she was born.”

Allison closed her eyes, “Thank god…”

She gestured behind them to one of the stairwells, “I think I’m going to try to find them, would you mind-” She gestured to Claire, “Would you mind watching her for a few minutes?”

Ben beamed, “Oh yeah, no problem!”

“Thank you - Baby, you stay with your Uncle Ben, okay? I’ll be right back.”

She stood up and walked away, Ben could hear the soft clicking of her heels against the wood floors as she made her way upstairs. He turned to face his niece and leaned back, “Okay, now I want to hear everything - Everything you love, what you’re thinking about, anything at all - I want to hear about.”

Claire settled on the couch with her legs crossed and took a deep breath, “Okay!”

She thought about it for several moments, biting her lip in concentration, “My name is Claire..”

“Uh- huh.”

“Aaand… I’m four years old.” She held up four fingers. 

“I’m from Cal’fornia… My favorite color is pink - I like horses and I like reading and I like shopping…”

Ben settled his chin in the palm of his hand and grinned happily as she continued to tell him everything that was important to her.

************************************************************************

Allison had been looking around for a little while when she heard the unmistakable sounds of shenanigans coming from their dad’s old office. She crept forward and cracked open the door to peek inside, she found her brother lounging on the corner of their father’s desk, leaning over and talking to someone. 

“Anything down there?”

“I found a box!” Allison heard a child’s voice coming from underneath the desk along with some dramatic straining sounds then a deflated, “It won’t open.”

Allison tilted her head with an amused smile. 

She watched Klaus fish something out of their pocket, “Here, try these--” 

A small hand reached up and grabbed whatever he was holding. 

“I don’t know how to use these.”

“You don’t know how to use Lockpicks? I thought I showed you how to?”

“No, remember -” A small face that resembled her brothers’ so much so it was heartbreaking popped up from the underside of the desk with a wild mane of hair around a set of sharp horns. “-Remember daddy said it’d bite you in the ass if you did that.”

Klaus scoffed, “So does everything else, why would it matter now? Here - can you bring it up here? I’ll show you. Better late than never.”

“Okay!” She dipped back out of sight and Allison took this as her opportunity to step inside. 

“Klaus, what have you got that baby doing now?”

His head whipped around just as there was a gasp and a painful thud from underneath the desk, then Kenzie bolted out into the open, looking around wildly for the voice “Aunt Allison!”

Allison laughed as she bolted towards her and crashed into her arms, she spun her around a few times giggling, “Oh my god, you’re so big!”

She pulled her away and looked at her, “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” she asked as she realized that her niece was beginning to cry. 

“I’m just really happy to see you.”

“Aw, baby-” She wiped away her tears and hugged her tightly, looking up at her brother with a slight cringe, “I should have never stayed away this long…”

Klaus smiled and waved his hands, “She’s your biggest fan, you know - she’s got all your movies.”

She held onto Kenzie with one arm then opened her other as Klaus came forward and grabbed both of them in an embrace, rocking back and forth for several moments. When he pulled away he left a hand on his sister’s shoulder, “You look really good.”

“Thanks.” She said sadly then added, “Are you -okay?” She looked over his pale skin, the bruises along one side of his face and the way he was favoring his left side against a cane. 

He waved her off, “When I heard Daddy dearest passed so tragically in the night I just fainted - and toppled down the stairs… And I just had to come down here and make sure that the old man was really gone…” He pouted for a brief moment then clapped his hands in celebration, “And he is! Yay!”

Allison huffed and shook her head fondly, they had continued to talk on the phone every now and then but it was different seeing him in person. 

“And I know because if he were here we wouldn’t be allowed to step a foot into his office - he was always in here - planning his next torment.”

“And I see you two are ready to collect.”

“Hell yeah, it’s her birthright.” He pointed to Allison, “Claire’s too so we can split this up anyway you want it. We personally have a preference for non-flammable metal items we could potentially pawn on a rainy day but we can work something out.”

Klaus lowered his voice, “Speaking of - is Claire bear here?”

“Yeah, she’s downstairs with Ben.”

“Yay! Finally - we have the whole family together! I mean, besides pops but - you know, fuck ‘em.” Klaus gasped, “Our girls can finally play together! Oh my god - all it took was a death in the family.” 

Allison laughed, “I can’t wait, but we’re going to have to lay down some ground rules - Because why do I have the feeling you and Ben plated fast and loose with discipline?”

“Hey, we did our best! And she’s only been suspended 3 times.”

“Hey - I’m not knocking it. You and Ben raised her all by yourselves, and she’s a great kid.” She hugged the child who had just continued to cling onto her firmer and rubbed her back, “That’s impressive since I know both of you personally - and was not expecting that. No offense.” She grinned at him as Klaus threw his head back back with a huff of air. 

Klaus plopped in their father’s chair and swiveled around a few times, “Well… You know, it’s all instincts. When you have a kid things just kick in and you kind of just know what to do--”

_What do you mean roll her over on her belly?” Klaus asked skeptically, sitting criss cross applesauce on the floor of the shelter they were staying at for the night._

_“I mean, you need to put her on her stomach so she can - you know? Practice or something?”_

_Klasu raised an eyebrow, bouncing the little infant absently in their lap, “It’ll smother her - look at these chubby little arms--” He raised her chunky hands up and waved them in a circle, “They can’t hold up anything!”_

_Ben rolled his eyes, “Well, don’t faceplant her, dumbass. Just let her lay down on her tummy so she can get stronger. I think it’s to help them start crawling.”_

_Klaus scoffed, “Crawling? She already tries to put everything she gets her little hands on in her mouth and now you want her mobile?”_

_“It’s the next step. It doesn’t matter if you’re ready for it or not. Plus, I think it could hurt her if we don’t?”_

_“How are you supposed to know that?!” He gestured to the infant laying in his lap staring languidly at her father, “There’s no reason why humans should have made it this far! All she does is eat, sleep, and barf - like the tiniest frat boy and I’m supposed to know to roll her over and hope for the best?!”_

_“Look at this head - the most important part of her body just rolls around on a weak ass neck all the time and we’re supposed to just be chill with that?”_

_“Just do it!” Ben snapped with a groan of frustration._

_“Fine!” They snapped back._

_Klaus carefully lifted Kenzie up and bounced her lightly, “This isn’t my idea, okay?” He told her then cautiously laid her down on her stomach, squishing her little arms under her and turning her head to the side on the black blanket she was delivered? born ? materialized in?_

_She grunted lightly and made a few noises of protest, her little body wiggling as best it could in the strange new position. She tried her best to move her head back and forth but didn’t get very far and just ended up leaving her head on her arm and staring around the room like she had never seen it before._

_Ben and Klaus stared at her intensely, both of them leaning forward expectantly._

_“Is that it?_

_“I think so?”_

_The infant’s face scrunched up and she made a cooing sound in protest. Klaus tilted his head curiously, “Is she concentrating or pooping?”_

_“Looks like both.”_

_Klaus bent over to the side until his forehead was against the floor and let out an exasperated, “Hhhnnguuauuag…”_

_“It’s your turn to change her.”_

_“Drop dead.”_

Klaus raised his hands up with a smile, “Piece of cake.”

Allison giggled. 

“Get out of his chair.” 

Klaus jumped at the sound of his brother’s voice but brushed it off as he left from the chair and stepped forward, taking in the now massive form of Luther. Klaus was 17 the last time he had seen good ol’ Number 1 in person and he definitely didn’t remember him looking like this. 

“Whoa… Luther - you’ve filled out over the years.” He leaned against the desk and held his arms in a strongman pose. 

Luther nodded dryly, “You grew your hair out.”

Just then Kenzie bolted from her aunt to stand in front of Klaus, he put his hands on her shoulders as she stared with an open mouth at SpaceBoy himself. 

“Whoa…”

Luther’s demeanor instantly changed as he realized that there was a child in the room and he took a step back. The stern, commanding look disappeared and for a moment he resembled a slightly confused puppy. He pointed a loose hand between them and frowned causing Allison to burst out laughing at the befuddled look on his face as he put the pieces together, “Wait - what?”

Klaus laughed and glanced down at his daughter, “Oh her? Yeah, she came with the hairstyle.”

Kenzie raised her arms up, “Uncle Luther!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new face interrupts Kenzie's meeting with Luther and the siblings continue to settle as they prepare for the funeral. And Diego is looking for a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you guys like this one! It's another sort of set up chapter and I am kind of getting bored with sticking so close to canon so I am looking forward to adding some chaos in the next chapter now that everyone is assembled (Almost). I wanted to have this chapter out on Wednesday but that morning I spun out on black ice and almost hit a tree so I wasn't vibing Lmao Please let me know what you think and if you have anything you want to see! I hope that you enjoy! Thank you so much for reading!

_There was a space in Dave’s apartment - their apartment now - that Klaus was particularly fond of, actually everyone in the family seemed to be. A sturdy window seat lined with pillows that faced out over the city skyline and lent a good view of the dimmed metropolitan sky. It was the place he often found Dave staring out into the streets with a far off look - this habit leading to the many small coffee stains on the pillows or Ben reading because it was just far enough away from the living room to feel isolated but not too lonely._

_But right now Klaus was lounging across the window seat with Kenzie across his legs staring up at the full moon with wide eyed wonderment. Lined up across the window on the frame were the tools for a rudimentary full moon ritual that Kenzie had pieced together with the help of a small packet given to her by Hayworth. A small lit white candle, a few crystals, a jar with tap water and seashell that had fallen behind one of the shelves and Kenzie had wanted to be apart of this month’s ritual. All laid out on a glass plate Klaus had bought from Cheepo Deepo for 10 cents._

_She was excitedly reading off a few lines written in a kitten notebook with yellow colored pencil. She was listing off all the things that she wanted from this coming month - ranging from happiness to the lady bug stuck in the claw machine at their local Italian restaurant. Klaus was tapping his foot and nodding along with his eyes closed. He was so close to falling asleep that he jumped when Kenzie ripped the piece of paper out of her notebook._

_He clapped and opened his eyes, resisting the urge to yawn, “Fantastic - what have we got tonight?”_

_She held up the first piece of paper, “My spell, I think that it’s a good one this month and I’ve got pictures for Uncle Luther.” She spread a few drawings, mostly in crayon and marker and showed them to her father._

_“Are the drawings just going up on the same train as the spell?”_

_“Yeah, they’re all going to the same place!” She said indignantly, then she added as she shuffled the papers in her lap, “I just think he’s gotta be lonely up there, right? Even with the moon?”_

_Klaus frowned, “Well, he’s uh - got a big job to do up there. Keeping us safe--”_

_She had clung on pretty tightly to the stories that Klaus had told her about Luther - more than he had been expecting. Ben said he should have known since being around so much witchcraft made her particularly knowledgeable about the moon. And Kenzie had personal connections of which she loved to remind anyone that asked and most people that didn’t._

_Her uncle was the man on the moon._

_“He’s going to love them.” Klaus finished with a tired smile._

_“Alright, let’s get this train a’ chuggin along.” Klaus sat up and cracked the window._

_Kenzie closed her eyes and balled her fist around the pages. She held her hand over the plate and took a deep breath. Fire surrounded her hand and a moment later she opened her palm up, letting the ash flutter through the open window along with the smoke._

_She stayed like that for several moments until it completely disappeared into the open night against the light of the full moon. Klaus waved a lazy peace sign out the window, his blinking already getting slower and slower as fatigue continued to drag him down._

_“Good talk, moon - we’ll be back next month.” Klaus said as he relocked the window and settled back down against the pillows._

_“One more thing!” Kenzie bolted off the seat and ran into the kitchen leaving Klaus reeling as to how in the world she could possibly have this much energy. He sighed and leaned into the pillows._

_She came back a few minutes later with a glass of milk and climbed back over his legs to reach the window sill. She placed it gingerly down next to the jar of brewing full moon water._

_“Okay…”_

_“It’s for uncle Luther! ‘Cause there’s no gravity and your bones get weak!”_

_“I don’t understand - is he like Santa Claus now?”_

_Kenzie raised her hands, “How would I know, it’s magick!”_

_Klaus paused for a second before shrugging, “touché”_

_He put a finger up, “Good witch hussle, pumpkin - now let’s get to bed.”_

_“Just a few more things!” And she ran off into another room._

_Klaus’ hand fell to their lap, “Oh my god…”_

_After a lot more bargaining and the eventual crash, he finally got the 5 year old to sleep. He closed her bedroom door and snuck away as quietly as he could into the rest of the apartment. He walked back to the window seat and glanced out into the moon as he picked the glass of milk up._

_“Good night, big guy…”_

_In the bedroom he found Dave flipping through a tablet, with the soft sounds of classic rock playing in the background. He shuffled in and held out the drink, Dave glanced up with a tilt of his head._

_“Do you mind drinking my brother’s milk?”_

_Dave huffed, “Okay?”_

_“Next month I’ll tell her Uncle Luther only drinks Oat milk.”_

_He took it, “I thought that was only a Santa thing?”_

_Klaus plopped onto his side of the bed and face planted with a tired sigh of relief, “It’s magick, Dave, fuck if I know..”_

_“Fair enough.”_

******************************************************************************************************

“Uhh…” Luther’s face twisted in confusion.

Klaus threw his palms out, “Tah-dah!”

Despite the teasing grin on his face, Klaus’ demeanor was forcefully cheery as he faced down his brother. Kenzie was staring up at her uncle with her mouth open processing who she was seeing and just how larger than life he seemed. 

“When did this – when did you- Wait, I thought you were gay?”

“Pan. And this happened, oh, a little over 7 years ago.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

The question honestly caught Klaus off guard, although it didn’t seem to have the same effect on Allison who turned to Klaus awaiting a response. It took him until Kenzie was 4 years old to reach out to her so maybe she had similar questions. 

“Well, you know, there was a bit of a—” He waved his hand out looking for the word, “Readjustment period after she was born…”

“I was a surprise!”

Klaus laughed, “She was a surprise!”

“Then you went to the moon and postage became abysmal!” Then he added as Luther’s slightly sullen expression did not change, “I was going to tell you.”

Luther nodded and flashed an awkward smile at his niece, “Well, it’s- uh – good to meet you—Um-“

“I’m Kenzie!”

“It’s good to meet you, Kenzie.”

“You too! I love you!”

Luther blushed a little and cleared his throat, “You too. Uh- kiddo.” And he gave her a thumbs up.

Kenzie reciprocated the thumbs up with both hands and then smiled over at Allison and repeated the gesture. Allison winked and gave her a thumbs up.

She struggled with taking her eyes off the hulking figure of her uncle but as a slender face peaked out from around one of his large shoulders she leaned in closer to her father. The face was long with pale skin and thin, web like hair that that trickled down around both his face and Luther’s body. 

He had dull eyes and split lips, however, despite the ashen features he seemed more mythical than sinister. It seemed he was in the process of shriveling up and turning into a dried out corpse. He was a light fading blue like a ghost, although his figure flickered like a badly rendered video game character. Kenzie glanced around wondering why no one was acknowledging this new person hanging off of her uncle Luther. 

Gray eyes observed the room and when he caught the child looking at him he flashed a broken smile and winked. This gesture sent out a small puff of dust from his face which sparkled against the light coming through the window and disappeared amongst the rest of the heavily dusted area. He gave a tiny wave over the much larger man and Kenzie felt compelled to reciprocate. 

Luther looked around and gingerly waved back at his niece although he couldn’t quite tell where her eyes were landing. 

“Who are you?”

The adults in the room glanced down at her then around the area, Klaus immediately clocked someone else but just as her father took a step forward, the mystical looking man vanished behind her uncle. 

“It’s just a spook, pumpkin - we’ll give uncle Luther a quick cleansing and that should make it go away.” He winked at his brother who just looked more concerned. 

Kenzie nodded since the man was gone but she wasn’t convinced that this man was a ghost.

The group fell into an awkward silence for several moments before Klaus sighed loudly and patted his daughter on the back, “Well, that was lovely – We’ll let you two, talk amongst yourselves.”

They made to slink past Luther but a large hand against his shoulder stopped him in his tracks, he looked up at his brother feigning offense.

“Drop it.”

“Exsqueeze me?”

Luther didn’t speak and instead just raised an eyebrow.

Klaus put a hand over his heart, “Luther, I’m a parent now – do you really think I’m going around stealing? I’m all for stomping around the old man’s office-“ They laughed, “But I’m not going to commit crimes right in front of my daughter.”

Luther frowned, he didn’t look convinced, but he dropped his hand and let Klaus pass without any more complaint. Number One’s shoulders fell as his brother and niece exited the room. 

He glanced up at Allison with a defeated look, “Well, he’s multiplying.”

Allison shook her head fondly. .

Outside the room, Klaus glanced over his shoulder as the door shut and he placed a hand on Kenzie’s shoulder, “You’ve got your bag, right?”

She held up the obnoxious SpongeBob bag proudly, “Yup! And the stuff!” She unzipped it and revealed the small gold trinkets they had lifted.

Klaus hugged her to his side, “I love you so much!”

They walked slowly down one of the main halls back through to the bedroom areas, Kenzie was obviously starting to get impatient with his current speed as he limped along with his cane but stayed a few feet ahead of them, nonetheless.

He was planning on stopping back by his own bedroom to sit down before the funeral officially began but he was distracted as he passed Allison’s room which was now open. He peeked inside and a rush of nostalgia hit him as he saw her suitcase spread out on the bed along with several of her drawers opened.

He sauntered in, leaving Kenzie as she stared up at one of the many stiff portraits of the Hargreeves children with their father. He hummed gently to himself as he started going through her many drawers of expensive clothing.

“Uncle Diego looks weird in a skirt…” Kenzie observed from the hallway.

Klaus picked up a long black skirt and unfolded it – his mouth dropping as he inspected the leathery fabric, “Hell yeah…” He said softly to himself.

“Yeah, he thought so too.” He answered. 

Kenzie walked back around the corner into the bedroom and found Klaus slipping one of Allison’s skirts carefully over his black skinny pants in a quick change attempt. 

“Are you supposed to be doing that?”

Klaus was unzipping his pants under the skirt and tugging them down with a sigh of relief, “Oh yeah, she knew what she was doing when she left her clothes out - brothers and sisters steal each other’s clothes all the time.”

Due to a severe lack of planning on his part he ended up falling back against the bed and wrestling his shoes off before he could free himself of the pants. 

Kenzie opened her mouth to say something but was distracted as the spook that had been clinging to her uncle Luther’s back walked past her, didn’t veer off the path or slink away into the shadows - they just meandered past her with soft footsteps. She watched after him, tilting her head as curiosity got the better of her in the moment. 

“When I get my baby siblings I’m not sure I’ll let them take my clothes - but maybe if they ask nicely or something.” And she walked away from the room. 

Klaus lifted his head from where he was peeling one side over his foot with some difficulty, a sudden sense of bewilderment flashing over his face. “Siblings?” He looked around and realized that she had walked off, “Wait, Kenzie - Siblings?! Plural?!” 

He sighed, this must be what it’s like to live with him sometimes. 

***********************************************************************************************************

Kenzie followed the footsteps of the dusty man through the hall and down the stairs where she found him standing tall on one of the middle steps observing the house with a certain elegance that she couldn’t quite place. He turned as he felt the child’s eyes on him and again he smiled warmly, an old hand reached out and pointed over towards the sounds of laughter from another room. 

She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and fished out the monocle from her pocket and slipped it over her right eye. 

In the place of the old kindly spook stood a tall slender man, solid as if he were truly standing physically in front of her, the change made her step back because suddenly he seemed so much more shocking. 

He had a long, slender face with dark grey eyes, a sharp nose, and chapped lips. He was framed by waist length white hair that had fried at the ends and spider webbed uncontrollably like static electricity in the environment. Like his lips, his skin was painfully ashen and dry, upon closer inspection she could see small cracks covering the epidermis like pictures of deserts being split apart by the sun. 

When he smiled his teeth looked hollow and his gums were dull like parchment, as if he had been holding ash in his mouth and it soaked up all of the natural saliva. She could see a small puff of dust that would escape every time he breathed and his skin cells scattered away with every movement like cracking the spine of an ancient book. 

Despite all this, he was still beautiful and she found herself reminded of a dusty version of the elves from the Lord of the Rings movies. He seemed mythical. Like someone sketched him from an old fairy tale. 

“Kenz’! Come down here and meet your cousin!”

Kenzie nearly dropped the monocle when her uncle Ben’s voice interrupted the intense moment. The dusty man smiled sweetly. He gave a small bow and stepped aside politely so that she could pass down the stairs without getting near him. She put the monocle away and sprinted past the dusty man towards the sound of her uncle. 

She found her uncle Ben sitting on the couch, there was a pink bag opened next to him with several toys laid out around him. Claire sat next to him, rummaging through her stuff and she glanced up when she saw someone approaching. She frowned suspiciously when it wasn’t her mom. Then her eyes widened as she saw the horns. 

Kenzie dropped her bag and looked through it, she pulled out a small golden elephant figurine and then ran up to join them. She plopped down comfortably on the couch and her nonchalance seemed to make the 4 year old nervous and she scooted away closer to Ben. 

Kenzie reached the figurine out and smiled, “Here you go!”

Claire didn’t move. 

“What’s wrong with your head?”

“There’s nothing wrong with it - these are my horns. I got them from my other dad because he’s from Hell. You can touch them if you want!” She tilted her head down. 

Ben was sitting back and he glanced up as he saw Allison enter the room and quietly settle against the wall without the children noticing. She brought one hand over her mouth and watched them fondly without making a sound. 

After a moment Claire reached out and rubbed her fingers down the curve of the keratin, she giggled as she felt the texture and Kenzie did the same. 

“Does it hurt?”

“Nope! I can’t feel them! But sometimes they poke holes in things - like pillows or walls or my shirts when I try to pull them over my head.” She shook her head solemnly, “I can’t wear a turtleneck without help.”

She glanced up as she heard a small creaking sound and found Sally swinging gently on the big chandelier above their head. She had no idea how the ghost got up there but she seemed particularly serene up there as kicked her legs and swung back and forth, staring out over the mansion. 

She waved and Sally reciprocated. 

Kenzie reached out the elephant one more time and this time Claire took it and settled it on her lap with a soft, polite, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome! I stole it! I’m gonna show you so much stuff! I’m gonna be kind of like your big sister, is that okay? I need to practice.” She began to count on her fingers, “So - I gotta show you what I know and I have to feed you and make sure you’re safe.” Kenzie was speaking very seriously. 

Ben shot a glance at his sister and shrugged as he had no idea where this was coming from and Allison grinned, hiding a giggle behind her palm. They stayed quiet and let the children talk. 

Claire’s face lit up, “Okay!

“Yay!” Kenzie leaned over and hugged her little cousin. She grabbed her hand, “Okay, I’m going to find you some food, now. Let’s go get grandma.”

Claire jumped up and they wandered off into the next room without acknowledging either of the adults. 

“See you later, I guess.” Ben mumbled as they disappeared around the corner. 

Allison tilted her head and whispered, “Are Klaus and Dave expecting another kid?” 

Ben chuckled, “Not that I’m aware of - I have no idea where that came from.”

“Well, it could have gone worse, that’s for sure.” Allison sat down on the couch next to her brother, careful not to sit on any of Claire’s toys. She was happy to have a few moments to talk to her deceased brother for a little while without everyone else.

Ben nodded, staring off into the distance. “She’s definitely going to teach her how to say Fuck. Just warning you.”

  
***************************************************************************** 

Diego sat with a sour expression, flipping one of his knives in one hand and judging his brother – he blinked out of his thoughts when Kenzie ran from where she had been standing with Dave and stopped abruptly by his chair. He put the knife away and smiled as she jumped up and grabbed him around the neck without a word and held on.

“Hey, Kenz’.” He pulled her up on his lap, “How are you doing with all this?”

She nodded, “I’m okay- I missed you.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, kiddo.”

“Where’s Eudora?”

Diego cringed and glanced away, thankful that everyone else seemed to be too busy to be listening, “She’s uh – She’s just been really busy with work lately.” Diego wasn’t that good a liar and he suspected that his niece saw straight through his ruse, so he coughed and stood up straighter, “But she told me to tell you hi.” He nodded satisfied with his own answer.

Kenzie continued to speak but his face darkened as he noticed a blackening bruise in the crook of her elbow surrounded by a few smaller bluish bruises against her pale skin. He glanced up at Dave briefly as the other man engaged in conversation with Allison. Finding bruises on his niece wasn’t strange, just like his brother she was pale and clumsy to a fault but the finger shaped nature and position of these alarmed him.

As if to spite him, his father had to die a week after Eudora had left him - all of this culminated into his sour demeanor at the moment. Really, he couldn’t care less that the old man was dead but he wasn’t really in the greatest state of mind to be unearthing all of this old shit. Now this. He had never trusted that Dave guy. 

“Where’d you get these?”

Kenzie, who had been in the middle of a sentence on the rat she saw in one of the hallways, paused and met his eyes, “Um – I fell down the stairs?”

Diego nodded, maybe he wasn’t the only bad liar in the family anymore, “Yeah, okay.” He looked around, “Hey, do you mind if I show you something really cool?”

“Yeah! This is really boring…” She glanced around at the members of her family who seemed just generally muted with personality.

Diego brought her around the corner into one of the studies, her eyes scanned the area looking for something of interest, but she just found old books and the bust statue of some old guy. “Where is it?”

Diego sat down on the edge of a loveseat, “I’ll show it to you in a sec- first, I want to know what really happened to your arm.”

The child groaned, “This was a trap wasn’t it?”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay. I know a handprint when I see one.”

“Maybe we can just go back in there and you don’t ask me that?” She tried, actively not looking at him.

“Why don’t you want me to ask?”

She stomped a foot, “Because I’ll have to lie to you and I really, really don’t wanna do that!”

Diego nodded, putting the pieces together in his head and getting angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. Instead of showing this, he took a deep breath, “Okay, that’s fair.” 

He sat back and let his brother’s genetic inability to stay quiet do its work.

After a few moments Kenzie’s face scrunched up, “UGH Okay! – He just grabbed me and I tried to get away but I couldn’t and I fought but I was sleepy and it didn’t work I know you would have been really disappointed in me but I tried and he yelled at me but I just want everything to go back to normal and I just wish it didn’t happen an’ I just want to be happy and I want momma to be happy so you can’t tell anybody that I told you, okay!? You promise, right?!” She grabbed one of his sleeves and shook him. “Please, tell me you won’t tell anybody!”

Diego put his hands up, “Kenzie, hey – listen to me. I would never be disappointed in you, you understand me? Nothing that happened was your fault. Come here.”

He hugged her, already fuming – He didn’t care that he was right but no one was allowed to hurt his niece. And it hurt because Klaus could go around getting his heart broken all he wanted but Kenzie deserved to be protected. 

She clung onto him, “I’m sorry.” She said with a pout.

“Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked at her keeping his hand on her shoulder, “Thank you for telling me. I mean it.” 

She looked like she was about to get upset and he really didn’t have the emotional understanding to know how to deal with that – so he pointed over to the corner of the room, “Now, I promised you something cool, didn’t I.”

She glanced over to where he was pointing with a sniff, “I thought you made it up?”

Diego inspected the environment for a moment before turning back and leaning down to her level, “Okay, I kind of did – but, here, what about 20$?”

He pulled out his wallet and flipped out a small stack of crinkled bills then he counted out 20 and held them up, “My bad?”

“Fair enough!” She snapped them out of the air and counted them happily.

“Hell yeah, money talks.”

Their moment was cut short by Luther’s voice coming through just loud enough to get their attention.

“Ok, I think that we should have a –“Luther cleared his throat “Quick family meeting to figure out what we’re going to do.” Despite the many curve balls, he had been thrown during the course of the morning he was still trying to remain in charge.

Diego patted his niece on the back, “Don’t worry, okay? Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Kenzie glanced over at a painting of her grandfather but nodded and followed Diego into one of the many living rooms. He sat back in his original seat and tugged a knife out, flipping it a little more fervently than before surveying the area. He watched with a scowl as Klaus met Dave near the bar and they tugged him closer to whisper something into his ear. They exchanged a few words then Klaus nodded, a look of distress over his face, he pulled what looked like money out of his waist band then dropped it into Dave’s hand.

Dave’s face was grave as he put the money into his own wallet then followed his fiancé back towards the couch, a hand against his partner’s back. His brother’s fiancé flashed him a polite smile which Diego did not reciprocate.

“Is that my skirt?”

“Oh this? Yeah, I found it in your room – it’s a little dated, I know but it’s very breathy on the-“ Klaus waved his hand around, “Bits.”

Allison rolled her eyes.

Klaus plopped down on the couch and glanced around the room tiredly. Ben’s see through form was watching Luther with a mild expression while Claire sat next to him playing with a doll. Kenzie moved to sit with them, patting her little cousin on the top of the head. 

“Vanya’s not here.” Allison pointed out just as Luther opened his mouth to speak again.

“When has that ever mattered.” Diego muttered bitterly, earning him a glare from his sister.

“No, she’s right, we should wait for Vanny. I just texted her – I’m sure she’ll be here. They probably had to check on the nibling then they’ll be right over.” Klaus argued with an un-lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

“The what?”

Dave nudged Klaus and shook his head.

“Shit – I mean-“

He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before a creak of the hardwood caused everyone to turn towards the front of the room. Standing just inside the room was Vanya, her jaw tense and her stance timid. Next to her, a noticeably pregnant Sophie held her hand. As the sibling’s eyes turned to them, the Chief’s eyebrow raised as if challenging someone to say something negative.

Vanya gave a little wave, “Hey.”

Luther’s shoulders fell as he saw Sophie’s belly, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Klaus lifted himself up as best he could over the back of the couch and tugged the un-lit  
cigarette from the corner of his mouth.

He opened his arms and waved It out between his fingers happily, “My nibling!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Finally some shenanigans! I hope that you guys like this chapter - I am hoping to move back into shorter more centralized chapters because these past few have been a bitch to write lmao! Anyway! Please let me know what you think of this one! Thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoy!

“Aunt Vanya!” Kenzie jumped up and bolted into her aunt’s arms cutting the heavy silence that fell over the room as they entered. She snuggled up into Vanya’s chest and her aunt pulled her into her back coat tightly. 

“Hey, Kenz’ - How are you doing?”

Kenzie nodded against her, “I’m okay…” She reached out towards Sophie’s belly next and giggled. 

“Ask first, Kenzie.” Dave’s stern voice cut through. 

“Can I touch the baby?” 

“Yes, you can - “ Sophie started with a smirk as Kenzie left Vanya and latched onto her middle, her little palm moving around her belly curiously. The chief pulled an arm around her and rubbed her arm. 

“Are they okay?”

“We just got them checked and they seem to be doing fine.”

As they talked Allison stood up slowly and approached Vanya - the smaller sister seemed to shrink away, expecting the same bitter silence coming from the rest of the room. Instead she opened her arms gingerly with a smile, “Hey, long time no see.”

They shared a stiff but sweet hug and Vanya gestured to her partner, “Allison, this is Sophie. My girlfriend.” Despite everything Vanya’s face blushed over as she locked eyes with the woman holding onto her niece. 

Allison reached out a hand and shook the Chief’s firmly, “It’s nice to meet you. And congratulations.”

“Thank you, I’ve heard a lot about you - It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

It was a common enough thing to say but given the circumstances, Sophie instantly regretted saying it and Allison dropped her hand with a tight smile. 

“I’m sure she’s heard a lot about all of us.” Diego was pointedly not looking at this exchange. 

“Diego!”

Vanya swallowed and dropped her head just as Allison put a hand on her shoulder, “Don’t listen to him, “I’m glad you’re here. All three of you.”

“It’s Vanya’s egg, you know - So we’ve probably got a tiny Beethoven in there-” Klaus got up from the couch with some effort, still swinging the un-lit cigarette between his fingers, “Just warning all of you. And- “ He threw a palm out, “Encouraging all of you to get musical instruments for the bean. You know, for their future and not because Vanny’s been Surreptitiously been giving my daughter the most obnoxious musical toys for the past 5 years.”

He pointed an accusing finger at his sister, “See how you like a 3 year old’s rendition of Coleman Hawkins’ ‘Body and Soul’ on a toy sax at 2 in the morning.”

His face broke and he smiled, moving closer, “Hey, Vanny.”

She giggled and let him pull her into a tight hug, “Hey, Klaus.”

Luther cleared his throat and the party looked up, “We- uh- we were just about to have a family meeting.”

“Just in time, huh?” Vanya said softly as they moved back towards the seating area. 

“You know it.”

Dave jumped up and gestured for Sophie to take his seat on the couch, she nodded appreciatively, “How are you doing, Dave?”

He nodded curtly, “Good, Chief. I mean, besides the funeral thing.”

“I hear that.”

Vanya settled next to her partner and Klaus plopped down next to her - Despite there being a few other open seats, Dave remained leaning against Klaus’ side of the couch. Klaus reached out and took his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze as everyone else settled around Luther. 

“Girls, you wanna go in the other room and play? We’re just going to be talking about boring grown up stuff. It’ll be a good chance for you guys to get to know each other.” Allison was the first to suggest after Luther’s words continued to falter as continued to censor his words to accommodate the children in the room. 

Kenzie wasn’t really used to being excluded from adult conversations so it took a little more convincing to peel her off of Klaus’ arm but after a little while she was settled with her little cousin in the next room surrounded by Claire’s toys. 

Allison waved at them as she moved to return to the ‘meeting room’, ‘Okay, don’t get into too much trouble, ladies.”

“We won’t!” 

Allison winked and closed the door. 

*******************************************************************************************************

**Ten minutes later…**

“Do you know how to use those?”

“Picking a lock can’t be that hard - lots of people do it.” Kenzie chewed on her lip in concentration as she knelt down in front of an intimidating metal door.

After finding a secret passageway that led them through the house and then down a long set of stairs, they found themselves deep in the mansion, faced with a growling door. They could hear rattling inside and upon further inspection they found 10-12 blood fiends of varying sizes and shapes milling around in the utter destruction of machinery that was no longer recognizable. They were making soft growling sounds and some of them were whimpering lethargically as they had been trapped so far away from their source and cut off from any energy. 

Kenzie’s heart broke seeing them trapped in there and after violently struggling against the lock she had given up and started poking around with the lockpicks she still had in her pocket. 

Sally stood behind her, holding an old, fat, wild rat that looked like it was in the middle of an existential crisis in the ghost’s arms. 

Kenzie rattled the doorknob after a little while of fiddling with the lock but when it didn’t budge,she kicked the door in frustration, wiping her palms over her face as tears started to well up in her eyes. 

“They’re stuck - They’re stuck and I - They’re alone. He put them in there and he took them away from me! I’ve gotta -” She punched at the heavy metal door, “I’ve gotta get them OUT!”

The creatures inside wailed. 

The little one’s face scrunched up angrily as she saw them, a rush of sadness and anger overwhelmed her and she tried to wrench open the doorknob but to no avail. She grabbed on, shaking it violently and the creatures inside started to howl and move around more. 

“They don’t sound happy.” Sally came closer, still clinging protectively to the wild rat she had captured. 

Kenzie rattled the doorknob then when it didn’t budge, kicked the door in frustration, wiping her palms over her face as tears started to well up in her eyes. 

“They’re stuck - They’re stuck and I - They’re alone. He put them in there and he took them away from me! I’ve gotta -” She punched at the heavy metal door, “I’ve gotta get them OUT!”

The tiny army of fiends screeched in revelry as her anger flared and a soft redness burned just under her skin. 

Sally stroked the head of the rat which had now resigned itself to this situation and it’s eyes started to get droopy at the contact, “Okay. We should go get someone.”

“What’s goin’ on?”

Both girls’ heads turned to see little Claire standing at the bottom of the stairs with a half eaten cookie in her hand, munching on it innocently. The embers beneath Kenzie’s skin dulled slightly and she walked up to her little cousin, “You’re not supposed to be down here!”

Claire shrugged, “Neither are you.”

“You need to be careful! I’m supposed to be taking care of you!”

Claire made a face and nibbled on the edge of the cookie. She skipped towards them, curiously. “You have a weird way of doing that.”

“I’ve gotta get the blood monsters out of the room before they starve to death then I’ll come up and play with you.”

“You say weird things.”

Kenzie sighed and went back to the door, kneeling down and attempting to peek through the keyhole. She bit her lip in concentration, “It’s fine, they’ll be okay when I get them out. They can - I don’t know - run around down here.”

Claire sat down and pulled another cookie out of her pocket, she watched her older cousin with wrapped attention. This was way better than playing with barbies and listening to the adults drone on and on about stuff she didn’t care about. 

Sally pouted, “I’m going to go back upstairs…” She took a step back when another fiend slammed into the metal door viciously.

“Okay, we’ll be up there in a sec…”

Sally turned around and whispered something to the rat who hadn’t expected this kind of day but seemed too confused to fight it at this point. She ran up the stairs. 

Kenzie gasped, “I think I got it!”

Claire jumped and dropped her cookie, she frowned, picking it back up and dusting it off methodically. 

Sure enough the lock clicked and the little one threw her hands up and cheered. She pushed down the handle. 

Like a tsunami a barrage of blood fiends burst through the door sending both children flying backwards with the force. Kenzie was rolled away into the wall just in time to see a large flying fiend with crooked wings and an inverted face latch onto Claire and lift her straight up in the air then began to swoop around the room. The four year old dropped her cookie and covered her eyes. 

“Drop her!” Kenzie snapped and surrounded herself in flames. 

The fiend squawked and the talons released. Claire dropped around 4 feet onto her bottom, unharmed. Kenzie crawled over to her and found her cousin staring around at the creatures she couldn’t see but could hear swirling everywhere. The little one’s face scrunched up with a 7 second delay and she began to wail. 

“Hey, no, no, no - don’t cry! Shhh… Shhh.. It’s okay!” Claire started crying louder and Kenzie winced. She didn’t know what to do so she just started patting the smaller child's face desperately. 

“It’s okay- Hey! Here, here, here -” Kenzie reached into her pocket and pulled out the pile of small bills their uncle Diego had given her, “Money? Do you want money?!”

Claire’s tears fizzled out and she sniffed, looking at the bills begging waved in her face. She pouted. 

“Yeah! Here- you can have it! You want money, right?”

Claire smiled and gingerly took the money. She crinkled it around in her hands, now distracted, “Thank you.”

Kenzie sat back, relieved and watched as the hoard of fiends started gunning it with feral enthusiasm up the stairs towards the rest of the house. 

Kenzie frowned, “Oops…”

******************************************************************************************************

Klaus let out a long drawn out sigh, he was sliding down further and further towards the floor as the bickering conversation went on and on. Luther, straight out of the gate had managed to accuse someone In the family of murdering Reginald which would have been easy for Klaus to laugh off with the rest of them if Diego hadn’t jumped in agreeing that something was off with the scene of the death but ridiculing Number One for thinking it was one of them. He posed that the old man just had enemies and it could have been anybody.

Vanya was upset and had gone particularly quiet, Allison seemed just generally tired and done with the whole thing while Diego and Luther were in the middle of a tense back and forth that included many personal jabs at each other. Dave, who had grown up in a household which heralded peace above all else even preferring tense politeness over arguments, was squirming in his seat. Sophie was doing a great job of pushing away her natural demeanor for the sake of Vanya and not attempting to jump in and take control.

Klaus’ mind wandered away as Sophie suggested that if they were actually worried that the old man was murdered, maybe they should just call the authorities. Luther chuckled at first only to realize that she was being serious and clear his throat in embarrassment. His eyes landed on his sister sipping at a drink and his stomach churned, the heaviness of the situation was getting to him and he was just so tired – he wanted everything to be numb again.

He snapped himself out of it as old repressed feelings of powerlessness and guilty fear sent him into a spiral of regression that he hadn’t dealt with in a long time. He coughed and rolled himself up onto his feet, hiding the fact that his hands were shaking.

“Where are you going? We’re not done here – “

“I’m just going to go murder mom – I’ll be right back.” He giggled and turned back to the family with a grin, “Not that I’m not immensely enjoying –“

He stopped as a heavy flapping began to summon from another part of the house – he tilted his head and pulled the un-lit cigarette out of his mouth. A barrage of red forms barreled down the hall towards them and he tumbled backwards onto his ass in surprise. Before anyone could react they were overtaken by a multitude of creatures of varying shapes, threat levels, and aggression. All of them were made of that deep red substance that Klaus (And his engagement ring) were extremely familiar.

A massive bat like creature with bent legs and strange appendages sticking out from its skin like the nightmare drawings of a child slammed into Luther and sent him over the coffee table and to the ground. It continued flapping and attacking him through his big overcoat and he swung blindly at the assailant that he could not see. He landed a massive punch against its side and it shrieked and dove into the wall, ripping plates and glass into pieces.

Ben jumped up as he and Klaus were the only two people in the room who were able to see them – “Kenzie!”

Klaus scrambled to get his footing as the creatures overwhelmed them and everyone jumped up and started swinging wildly in the air.

“Shit!”

Ben bolted out of the room with Dave on his heels towards where the children were supposed to have stayed. Allison slammed her drink into a bulbous fiend with one wing and one oversized muscular arm as it bumbled into her.

“Oh my god…” She kicked off her heels and ran after them.

Klaus moved as fast as he could but wasn’t able to keep up with everyone else as the pain shot up through his body and he tumbled down just past the door he found Kenzie running towards them holding onto Claire’s hand tightly.

Ben dropped down next to her, “Kenzie, what happened? Tell me what happened.” He started looking her over trying to find out where she was bleeding.

Allison grabbed Claire and covered her face as a mirror next to them shattered from a force that they just couldn’t see. “What the hell are these things!?”

“I’m okay! I found them! He trapped them and they were starving! Remember?!” She tapped her arm where Reginald had taken her blood.

Klaus made it to them, falling next to Ben. Dave was holding a fire poker like a baseball bat and was listening intently as the chaos spread around them – swinging if he felt like one was getting too close.

“You’re not hurt?” Klaus reiterated, closing his eyes as a wave of nausea overtook him and he nearly doubled over to vomit.

Kenzie shook her head.

“Kenzie, we’ve talked about this! You have GOT To start getting an adult before you do something like this!” Bens snapped.

She pouted, “I’m sorry!”

Klaus sighed, caving immediately, “It’s okay, baby, we just—”

“No, it’s not okay, Klaus – She could have gotten killed! She could have gotten Claire hurt! These things are hungry and aggressive! Kenzie – listen to me, we—” He was interrupted by a ball like fiend with sharp beak and duck feet that rolled into them, nearly causing the ghost to topple into his brother.

Allison moved quickly and kicked it back into the next room like a soccer ball before Dave could get to it. They immediately heard a “What the fuck!?” From Diego as It nearly slammed into his side.

Dave leaned over, grabbing Kenzie by the shoulder and tugging her out of the way of any more wild fiends, “Listen, I’m with Ben but we’ve got to handle these guys first.”

Allison continued to bounce Claire gently as the noise get louder and louder around them, “I’m taking her to the courtyard – then we can deal with these things.”

Dave nodded, “Good idea. Kenzie, come on-“

“No! I can help! They won’t hurt me!”

“It doesn’t matter- it’s still dangerous in here. You’re going to stay in the courtyard and look after your cousin like you were supposed to have been doing, do you understand me?”

Kenzie’s face scrunched up and she crossed her arms but she nodded nonetheless.

“Thank you.” He pulled off his jacket and covered her head with it just as the same bat-like fiend from the front was launched into a mirror by Luther and the shards rained down on them.

Above them Kenzie saw the dusty man, hanging casually on a banister watching the whole scene with a delighted grin on his face. Before she could say anything, Dave picked her up without another word and followed Allison out.

*********************************************************************************

MEANWHILE, UPSTAIRS….

Sally hummed softly to herself as she wandered into one of the upstairs bedrooms (She couldn’t go through walls at the moment due to the rat sleeping in her arms) she found a slightly messy room with lots of model airplanes and space posters on the walls. It didn’t smell very good either, but she ignored that and looked around curiously. 

She was grateful for the fact that she could stay corporeal for this long – there was something thrilling to being able to interact with a new and exciting environment. After living on that swing for so long she sometimes wondered if she had ever existed, the memories she once held onto faded over time until she was left with the day to day moments. She quelled the panic by simply remembering why she was supposed to stay there; she did her job well and in return she was able to remain clear.

But this was different, this was a whole new world, and no one was stopping her from exploring or messing up the environment as she wanted. She caught a glimpse of a bookcase full of records and she rushed over, a brief smile flashing over her ghostly features. She knelt down and skimmed her fingers over the titles. She didn’t recognize any of these things and she didn’t really care to but after glancing over the pictures she pulled out one that she thought was beautiful.

She held it in her hands and flipped it around, admiring the art. The ghost grinned as she spotted the phonograph setting on the desk. She placed the disk under the needle and took a few more minutes to figure out how to use it.

She was about to start it when a crash from downstairs made her stop in her tracks. She heard sudden raised voices and shrieking but after listening for a few moments, she concluded that whatever was happening was remaining down there and wouldn’t affect what she wanted to do.

She dropped the pin, turned up the volume and jumped onto the bed gleefully as it crackled to life. The rat’s eyes bugged out of it’s skull as she started bouncing to the addictive pop beat. She closed her eyes and let the music overwhelm the room.

__

~Children behave~  
~That’s what they say when we’re together~

***********************************************************************************

“Alright – Let’s spread out and take care of these things!” Sophie grabbed a lamp and tossed it to Allison as she ran back into the mansion.

“You can knock them out or you can trap them in something.” She picked up a bat and swung at the sound of flapping wings coming towards her – a heavy “crack!” Rang through the house and the flapping stopped as a mysterious ectoplasmic red liquid stained the wooden weapon.

“But if you trap them remember where you put them – Don’t try to get a pen out of the growling and vibrating desk – Klaus.” Ben glanced pointedly at his brother as he rolled a rectangular chest out of another room.

“Fuck off.”

“Ben, you wanna start trapping since you can see them?”

“You got it, chief.”

Sophie turned on her heel as the family spread out into pairs to hunt down the creatures causing a massive amount of damage throughout the lower levels of the house, she moved back towards Vanya holding a small antique war statue like a club. Number Seven’s brow was furrowed in concentration and her mouth was turned to a heavy frown. She wasn’t looking around at the environment, her eyes were focused on the place where her fingers came in contact with the statue.

A soft white glow was pulsing lightly, and she clung on tighter trying to keep the panic from overwhelming her in the moment. Sophie clocked the way she was forcing her breath to remain even, but it wasn’t working, and her chest was beginning to rise and fall at a painful rate.

“V?”

“I can’t-“Vanya seemed to choke on the words and she coughed, looking away as the white energy flared from her palms and solid surface of the statue undulated.

“Vanya, look at me.”’

With effort Vanya looked up, her usual dark hazel eyes flashing with a milky blue shine. 

Sophie reached out and covered her hand with her own and like water on a fire, the blue energy vanished and her eyes cleared, 

“We’re okay.”

Vanya blinked and swallowed hard, her free hand falling to land on their baby, instinctively. 

Then, without warning, Vanya stepped back and swung at the sound of gurgling and the head of the statue snapped off as it met an invisible entity that was sent splattering into the back wall. She took a deep breath as some of the anxiety and tension was relieved and looked back at her partner with a smile.

“You’re right. We’re okay.”

__

~I think we’re alone now~  
~There doesn’t seem to be anyone around~

***********************************************************************************************************

Dave was wrestling one of the invisible fiends into an old exotic chest when he heard someone come into the room. “I think we’re finally starting to get these guys under control. Do you think -”

He slammed the lid down and twisted around, his jaw tensing, “You’re not Allison.” He observed sheepishly. 

Diego strolled into the adjacent room, all of his knives were covered in that strange blackish red substance that made up the fiends. He smirked and tilted his head to listen to the chaos all around them as everyone else continued wrapping up this fight, not paying attention to anything else. 

“Disappointed?”

“A little. But not for the reasons you’re thinking.”

Diego flipped one of his knives up menacingly, “Yeah, well, lucky for you Allison wasn’t the one paying attention.”

Dave openly groaned, “Diego, I didn’t hurt Klaus. And if I could tell you what happened I would but I can’t without breaking a promise so I won’t. Do you understand that?”

Diego chuckled, “That’s real convenient. But how about you just cut the shit, Katz - It’ll make this a lot easier.”

They stared at each other for several moments, Dave put a hand up, “We are on the. Same. Side. Okay? I get that you don’t like me, that’s fine but you and me? We’ve always wanted the same thing.”

Diego’s wrist flipped and he shot a knife just above Dave’s head, hitting a fiend perfectly through the middle and sending a spray of goo all over his brother in law. Dave's face twisted in disgust and he shook some of it off, “Thanks.”

“This isn’t a threat, Katz - You hurt my niece!” Diego snapped, his stoic crime fighting demeanor quickly slipping, “You’re not coming out of this okay, bud.”

Dave took a step back, a sudden look of confusion flashing over his face quickly replaced with alarm. “What?”

This was so much worse, Diego was protective of Klaus but if this was about Kenzie then Dave was quickly realizing that he was in actual danger. And it had nothing to do with the Hell fiends his daughter summoned and let loose.

Diego threw another knife, this one just barely missing Dave’s ear and embedding into the wall behind him, “Cut the shit, Katz!”

Diego was honestly angrier with himself than he was with Katz - he had dropped off the map and stopped visiting. A painful sense of guilt shot through his chest as he thought about his niece stuck with this man and her uncle Diego, the guy who had promised he would always have her back, was off dealing with his own bullshit. 

Fucking up his brother’s fiance, all around good guy firefighter with a heart of gold, wasn’t going to make him feel better. But it couldn’t hurt to try.

It took all of his focus not to flinch but Dave managed to take a deep breath and place a calming hand up in front of him, “Diego, I’ve never hurt Kenzie. But there are some things we need to talk about and some things that maybe you need to know. But I’m not doing that without Klaus’ permission here. Tossing me off of a balcony and blaming the monsters isn’t going to help anybody.”

Diego smiled and tapped a knife against the air, “That’s a really good idea, Katz, thanks.”

Dave dropped his arms, “Well, fuck.”

__

~ I think we're alone now,  
The beating of our hearts is the only sound ~

******************************************************************************************************  
“On your right!”  
Luther swung a small table as hard right as he could and it whistled through the air uselessly as something slammed itself into his other side, nearly knocking him over. He spun around and whacked it into the ground with a splat. Luther glanced up and glared at his brother.

Klaus cringed, “My right. Your left. Sorry!”

He was lounging halfway on one of the tables, keeping his weight off his legs. He smiled sheepishly as his brother’s eyes didn’t leave his face, “I think you got all the big ones, big guy. Really been giving ‘em the what for!”

“Klaus, what are these things?”

They waved their hand dismissively, “Whoopsie doodles with teeth mostly. Kids are so creative, you know… And so full of surprises - you just never know what they’re going to come up with!” He chuckled, slipping casually off the table and attempting to walk away. 

Luther grabbed his arm, “Does this happen a lot?”

Klaus tensed but hid it well behind an amused expression and forcefully casual tone, “To this extent? Absolutely not - usually one here and there and- Honestly some of the little bastards will grow on you. Nothing to worry about, I am used to them by now.” He patted his brother’s hand. 

“So she… Does have superpowers…”

“She’s got horns, Luther, I don’t what you expected.”

Luther’s grip got tighter on his arm and Klaus squirmed away, “If you would have just told us, we could have helped you.”

Klaus scoffed, “What? You and daddy dearest?”

“You could have told me, Klaus. Hiding things like this is what leads to stuff like this happening.”

For all of his acting, Klaus’ face darkened and he pulled his arm away from Luther to stand in front of him. He laughed somewhat coldly, “Tell you? Right, because the first thing I thought when I was homeless with my first daughter is ‘lets go to the guy who shoved me half naked into the snow and locked the door on me just to make dad happy.’. You’re right, Lu, you were the first person I thought of!” 

“You didn’t give us any choices! Your brain was fried on drugs - you were out of your mind! What were we supposed to do!?”

“Hm - Yes, frosty waterboarding is always the best cure of delirium - you’re right.”

“I didn’t want to do that, Klaus!”

Klaus cackled, he could literally feel himself regressing back into an angry teenager, “And yet with the snap of his fingers you were doing daddy’s bidding at great personal cost!”

“Just because I didn’t want to do it doesn’t mean I didn’t agree with him.”

Klaus swallowed. 

“But that was almost 8 years before she was born - you couldn’t have at least told me she was here? That she was safe.”

“Luther you’re lucky I even - “ 

He was luckily interrupted before he could finish that sentence by Dave crashing through the door backwards and tumbling into a table with a crack. He groaned and rolled himself back onto his feet, he glanced over at Klaus whose hand had slapped over his mouth in surprise. 

__

Look at the way we gotta hide what we're doin'  
'Cause what would they say  
If they ever knew  
And so we're

“What were you saying about me bonding with Diego?” Dave mumbled teasingly at his fiance.

“Hiding behind your boyfriend isn’t going to save you, son of a bitch!” Diego walked through the doorway pointing a knife at the firefighter. 

“Yeah, unfortunately, Diego, I need witnesses in order to have a conversation with you.”

As the majority of the fiends were dispatched, the family moved back into the main sitting area and the sight of the current fight. 

“Diego, what the hell are you doing?” Allison was the first to speak, walking up to them with her arms crossed. 

The whole room went quiet as Number Two balanced his choices. On one hand he really wanted to exact revenge on the gut who had all but crippled his brother and left bruises on his niece. On the other hand, he kind of wanted to see what Allison could do with him. 

He pointed an accusing finger at Dave, “This asshole bruised up Kenzie - and if any of you had been paying attention you would see that he’s been beating her father around too.”

Allison’s arms fell to her sides, “What?” She all but growled and stepped forward. 

Dave stepped back, his stance going rigid. 

“Don’t listen to him, he just got dumped and he’s looking for something to fill the righteous hole in his heart which he should just fill with booze and chocolate like a normal person!” 

Klaus stepped forward but Allison hadn’t taken her eyes off Dave. “Is this true?”

“It’s not.” Dave spoke directly to Allison. 

“Then what happened?”

His eyes glanced over to Klaus, “I can’t tell you.”

“You don’t actually believe this bullshit, do you?” Diego tried. 

“What are you guys talking about!? He has never hurt us!” Klaus laughed in disbelief. 

“Those are some pretty serious accusations to just be throwing around, Diego.” Sophie stepped forward despite Vanya’s protests to hold her back. 

“This has nothing to do with you.”

“You’re accusing my employee of domestically abusing his family - it damn well does concern me and you better have some solid proof to back this up. And forgive me for not exactly trusting your judgement on this.”

“I don’t have beef with you.”

“Sophie.” Vanya started. 

“Listen, Knifeboy, we’ve had beef since you decided to have this kind of attitude with my girlfriend - but this isn’t about that - it’s about you disrupting a funeral to attack my employee’s character.”

“The proof is right there!” Diego pointed to Klaus’ face, “The proof is that fact that that little girl has got bruises all over her arm and my brother gave all of his money to this guy.”

“It’s none of your business what I do with my money!”

“Why are you protecting him!?” Diego snapped. 

Ben appeared next to them, “Diego, do you actually think that I wouldn’t have told you if he hurt Kenzie?”

Number Two straightened up, “Well, I mean-”

“Why didn’t you just ask me before you started beating people up!?”

He thought about it for a second, “Honestly, I kind of forgot-”

“Forgot that I was here? Thanks, bro.” Ben said dryly. 

Allison rolled her eyes and turned around, “Christ…”

Diego threw his hand up defensively, “Well, that doesn’t explain what happened! Kenzie is scared and bruised and Klaus looks like he got hit by a car! I mean, you don’t see everything, Ben.”

“Diego…” Ben warned. 

Allison groaned, “Klaus, just tell us what happened to you two so we can go get the kids.”

He swallowed and stepped back. 

“Leave them alone, okay. We’re - we’re tired. It’s not going to happen again and appreciate all your concern. I really do but he’s right - It’s none of your business.”

“Sounds like somebody with something to hide.”

Ben shoved Diego at that comment and he just sort of shook it off. 

“Klaus, I need to know that Kenzie is safe.” Allison moved closer to her brother. 

“I- I got hit by a car and Kenzie fell on a foosball table arm first.”

Allison’s face darkened as she stared her brother down. “I heard a rumor _~I heard a rumor~_ that you told us what happened.”

“No-”

Klaus’ eyes flashed white and his voice went monotone, “Dad beat me and killed me. He took Kenzie and left those bruises because she fought back. And then I killed him.”

The seance’s eyes went back to their normal hue and he screamed as his hands flew over his mouth. He stumbled backwards as everyone stood frozen in shock. 

“I killed him…” He whimpered, “Oh my god, I killed dad…” As if it were the first time he had truly realized the meaning behind those words.

Suddenly the whole room was consumed by everyone’s voices yelling over each other at once. 

“How could you?” Luther’s face twisted in a sudden rage and he stepped towards Klaus. 

Dave moved quickly to put himself between Klaus and Luther. 

“Dave don’t--”

“Luther, stop it!” Allison shoved Dave out of the way and faced Luther, stopping him in his tracks. 

“Allison, he killed our father!”

“And maybe I would have done the same thing if he had taken Claire.”

“Yeah, well, Claire’s not dangerous! There’s gotta be a reason why Dad did that!”

“So you’re saying that if Claire had powers it would have been okay for Dad to take her away from me?” Allison snapped back, her voice raising so she could be heard over the cacophony around them. 

“So it really wasn’t Dave?” Diego said with bewilderment. 

“Jesus Christ, Diego…” Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, cringing at everyone yelling over each other as their funeral dissolved into chaos. 

Their voices drowned out the catchy pop song that had been playing loudly on repeat throughout this whole affair and Sally, who had just walked in on this, frowned and moved past them towards the courtyard. Clutching Mr. Rat to her chest so the yelling wouldn’t scare him. 

He wasn’t scared. He was a wild rat in the arms of a literal ghost and his resolve had increased tenfold during the past 1 and a half. Nobody noticed them go by or anything else for that matter.

Running just as fast as we can, holding on to one another hands  
Trying to get away into the night and then you put your arms around me  
And we tumble to the ground and then you say

*************************************************************************************

Sally found herself going through the door into the main courtyard. She was a little disappointed when she could no longer hear the music anymore. She found Kenzie holding a pink rimmed umbrella while Claire huddled up next to her in a puffy purple coat, matching knitted hat, gloves and fur trimmed boots.”

“Wow, you really beefed it.” She walked up to the other two girls.

Kenzie stuck her tongue out and made a face.

“This place is cold!” Claire complained.

They jumped as the world around them began to warp and all the air started getting sucked into a bluish black portal in the sky above them. Suddenly they, along with everything else, were getting pulled into the anomaly. Kenzie tossed the umbrella to the side and grabbed onto Claire with both of her arms. The blue corporeal nature of Sally’s skin started to fade. She bolted behind a tree and held on with a whine.

Then, as if a massive storm was billowing out from the center of the portal, the horizon was blocked by streaks of lightning and cracks of thunder.

“This place is weird AND cold!” Claire cried out, clinging onto her older cousin as the wind nearly toppled them forward.

A figure was beginning to appear from the center of the portal while the air around them continued to swirl like a tornado. Kenzie knelt down and began to rummage in her SpongeBob SquarePants backpack. A moment later she pulled out a small, portable fire extinguisher; she shoved Claire off to the side towards Sally and launched the item into the portal where it immediately disappeared.

The figure became more visible, shifting and warping between this world and whatever was on the other side. Kenzie toppled backwards into the other girls just as the figure solidified into a screaming boy and plunged into the mud. As quickly as it had appeared, the portal disappeared into nothing, leaving the gray, rainy sky.

The children stared with wide eyes and open mouths as the boy in an oversized suit looked around. He examined his own body then his hands dropped to his lap in frustration. “Shit!”

“That’s a bad word.” Claire scolded.

Five’s head shot up to see the three little girls staring at him and he sighed deeply.

Five nodded towards them curtly, “Kenzie. Claire.” He peeked around them to see the ghostly child standing near the tree closer to the house, “Sally?”

He stood up with a groan and wiped the mud off his pants before stretching his neck, “I guess we’re doing this again.”

******************************************************************************

Five followed Kenzie into the house where she led to him easily to the loudest part of the mansion. Claire and Sally followed behind them somewhat uncomfortably at the weird situation and the ruckus happening inside. However, as Five walked through the doors into the living he shoved his hands in his pockets and observed the scene in front of them with some amusement.

From right to left, Vanya was nearest the wall and it looked like she was doing breathing exercises, fists balled up in front of her and her eyes closed.

The ghostly figure of his brother Ben was standing close to her, observing the rest of them and keeping a hand on her shoulder.

Klaus was curled up against the back of the couch openly crying. He was rocking himself lightly and mumbling something over and over again to himself. 

Luther was yelling at Klaus but it was impossible to tell what he was saying over Allison standing between them shouting over his words. 

There was a man and a pregnant woman arguing with Diego a few feet away and it looked like they were close to blows, screaming over each other and pointing to Klaus and Vanya.

Pogo was standing with his hand shaking against his cane in the opposite doorway; his mouth was slightly agape, and his much older face was lined with worry.

In the opposite corner, Grace was cross-stitching with her foot bouncing lightly against her knee. She looked like she might have been humming but it was impossible to tell with the actual shit show going on around her.

Five tipped a vase over and let it shatter to the floor. He cleared his throat, holding his head up.

The entire family stopped what they were doing and turned to him, ceasing their relentless fighting.

Vanya’s hands flew over her mouth, “Oh my god…”

Five smirked despite himself, “Nice to see nothings changed.”

__

I think we’re alone now…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a bunch of adults talking over a well crafted tea party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you so much for your patience on these chapters and thank you for all the lovely comments! I definitely want to move back into my normal style of chopped up scenes and stay pretty far away from canon if possible. I hope that you all enjoy it and thank you so much for reading!!

“It’s good to have you back… Especially since there are things that we need to discuss.”

Luther leaned against the table, which was surrounded by the family, all of them staring intently at the newly rediscovered Five. Klaus had his legs stretched out in front of him on top of the table, holding himself up by his elbows with his sisters and Diego sitting around him. Dave and Sophie were standing a little farther back taking in this situation with practiced skepticism.

Claire was fluttering around with a toy tea set that they had brought with them and she seemed to be the only person who didn’t really care what was happening. Her 4-year-old mind just wanted everyone to chill out. Kenzie was perched on the kitchen cabinet next to five, her arms wrapped around her knees watching with some degree of wonder and a creeping look of fatigue.

Five had been particularly vague about what had happened to him and it was increasingly clear that even if he told them everything, they wouldn’t understand.  
Five sighed and took an aggressive bite of his fluffernutter sandwich, “Oh, there’s a lot to discuss- We—”

“Baby, why don’t you go play tea in the other room? Let the grown ups talk for a bit?” Allison leaned over to get Claire’s attention as she obsessively set up a tea part on an old milk crate.

The little one quirked an eyebrow towards everyone, “No! Every time you say that something weird happens!” She whined and pushed a play teacup into Allison’s hand.

“Hard to argue with that logic.” Klaus mumbled, earning a look from his sister.

She sighed and sat back, holding the little yellow cup like a real coffee mug, “Fair enough.” 

Allison nodded towards Five, “Continue.”

“Thanks for the permission.” He took another bite then mumbled, more to himself than to anybody else, “Maybe Delores was right…”

His eyes shot up to the two extra members standing in the back, “Dave, how long did you serve?”

He had been staring off into the distance for some time now and when Five addressed him directly he jumped a little. Glancing over at Klaus. He must have said his name out loud, right?

“Two tours.”

Five nodded thoughtfully, “Thank you for your service.”

“Thanks?”

Luther put his hand up, “That’s not what I’m talking about.” He took a deep breath and looked into his long lost brother’s eyes, “Klaus killed dad.” He said. His voice dropping severely.

“He kidnapped my daughter!” Klaus snapped.

However, much to Luther’s surprise Five chuckled, “I always figured one of us would off him.” He bit into his sandwich, “My money was on Diego.”

“Yeah, mine too.” Diego said, somewhat boredly. Staring off into space.

“Guys, this isn’t a joke!” Luther pointed his finger around the room, “Our father is DEAD! 

And nobody seems to care that our own brother slaughtered him in his own home!” He sat back, pointedly not looking at Klaus, “I should have- I should have been protecting him… I should have known. It’s always the –“

“Tea?”

Luther tilted his head down to see Claire politely holding up a purple teacup with a barbie arm sticking up out of it like a spoon. She smiled sweetly at him.

He cleared his throat, “Uh- Thank you.” He took it. Pinching the ridiculously tiny handle between his thumb and forefinger. He glanced around somewhat awkwardly as she continued to stare seemingly into his soul with big expectant eyes then he gingerly stirred the empty cup with the plastic arm and took a tiny sip.

She didn’t take her eyes off him.

“Mm mm.. Tasty.”

Finally, the four-year-old nodded happily and skipped off to start making her next creation.

With a huff, Kenzie jumped off the counter and stomped off towards the rest of the house.

“Pumpkin—I’m sorry I--” Klaus sighed and rolled over to his side.

“Luther…” Vanya scolded as Klaus climbed off the table with much difficulty to go follow his daughter.

“She was going to find out eventually.” Luther said sadly.

“Do you want me to-“ Dave started, reaching a hand out as his partner started limping in her footsteps.

Klaus waved him off, somewhat distressed, “It’s fine, I’ll talk to her.”

Dave and Ben exchanged a knowing, highly concerned look. 

******************************************************************************************

“Kenzie-benzi-” Klaus followed her into the adjoining room and just as he reached out to tug on her shoulder the little one turned with a pout, fists clenched at her side. 

“You told me you wouldn’t lie to me!” She yelled, already tearing up. 

Klaus all but collapsed in front of her, dropping to his knees and holding up his hands, “I know I did and baby, I’m really sorry - there’s-” He cringed trying to control the situation, “There’s this thing called ‘Plausible deniability’ - which is like, you know, where you can’t be faulted for what you don’t know and I didn’t-”

Kenzie’s face was scrunched up and red, angry tears falling from her eyes even though she was obviously trying to seem tough at the moment. “You killed somebody…”

“It was an accident - he- he- took you from me and I lost control but that’s-” His shoulders collapsed and his hands fell into his lap, “I didn’t want you to know because it wasn’t your fault and- and I really didn’t want you to see me like that.”

She didn’t say anything and Klaus started to panic, “I’m sorry I lied to you, I’m so sorry - you know I always tell you the truth and I promise I won’t lie to you again - this has just been…We can- after all this is over I promise you we can go and do something fun, yeah? Maybe we can- I don’t know, shopping? Or maybe the theme park? we can go back to Texas! Yeah? Maybe Dave- Dad was right and we should get a cat or something. Maybe one of your aunt Nora’s? Like that - little black one with the sweet eyes? It’s going to get back to normal and I just want you to know that I didnt- we didn’t want to keep you out of the loop. I honestly didn’t think it would come up...” Klaus was speeding through his words and not every word was easily understood. 

“Kenzie.” Ben’s calm voice cut through his ramblings and he glanced up to see his brother approaching and sitting down against a chair. 

She looked to her uncle, still sniffling and trying to hide it, “What?”

Ben leaned forward, “We lied to you because it wasn’t safe to tell you the truth. You’re seven years old and you’ve been through a lot and there was no reason to bring up what your father had to do.”

“Look at me.”

Kenzie did so, wiping her face with her arm. 

“We love you and we’ll do anything it takes to keep you safe. And if that includes not telling you the whole truth then that’s what we’ll have to face. But we don’t make a habit out of it and you know that.”

Klaus was staring down at the ground with his hands in his lap. 

Ben continued, “I’m sorry you had to find out that way. That definitely wasn’t right. I understand that you feel betrayed here but we did it because we thought it was the best thing for you given the circumstances. And I hope that we never have to do it again.”

He settled back and waited for Kenzie to respond. 

“I hate him! I hate him and I wish-” She sniffled and hiccuped into her arm, “And I wish he had never showed up!” She yelled angrily. 

Ben nodded calmly, “Me too.” He opened his arms, “Come here.”

She tumbled forward into his chest and there was a soft exhale of steam as the heat from her body met his corporeally frigid form. Ben gestured to his brother, “Get in here, mom.”

Klaus moved forward and joined the hug, pressing a firm kiss between Kenzie’s horns, “I’m sorry, baby.”

When Ben pulled away he wiped away the tears on her cheek with his thumb, “Why don’t we find someplace you can lay down for a bit, huh? I bet you’re pretty tired.”

She nodded sheepishly and started to wander off towards the exit. She glanced back before she made it to the door, “I’m sorry, momma…”

Klaus pressed a hand to his chest, “I know, I’m sorry too, pumpkin…”

As she zombie walked away, Ben turned to his brother with a stern expression, “Get it together, bro.” He warned. 

Klaus stumbled to his feet, wiping his face roughly and moving away. 

“Are you going to go back in there?”

Klaus waved him off, back turned to him and stumbled to a portrait of a trophy hunter, “I’m going to stare at this painting and not cry even a little- Leave me to it.”

Ben rolled his eyes and walked off to tuck Kenzie in for a nap.

***************************************************************************************************

Meanwhile...

“I mean, what do we do from here?” Luther prompted after a few moments of silence.

“We’re not doing anything. He’s our brother and he’s got a family.” Allison spoke firmly and left no room for argument.

“Well, what about the monocle?”

Dave spoke up from the back, “We didn’t take the monocle.”

“And he tells you everything?” Diego challenged.

“He didn’t take the stupid monocle.” Dave reaffirmed.

“So nobody else cares that this happened?”

“Luther, if you spend your life torturing your kids at some point one of your kids is going to grow a spine and take you out!” Vanya rolled the side of her face in her palm, her face growing red.

The family paused in shock at her sudden outburst.

“Sorry – It’s just- can we move on? He took our niece – would you want her to become an experiment like us?” She said, in a softer tone.

“Would you- would you like some tea?” Claire stumbled forward with a rounded blue cup. This was a more extravagant creation with crinkled white paper serving as a foamy top to make it clear this was a milk and sugar kind of tea.

Vanya smiled, “I’d love some, thank you.”

As if sensing the tension in the room, Claire hugged onto her aunt sweetly as she took a big sip, pressing the paper down with her thumb so it looked like the cup’s contents had been emptied. “It’s so good!”

“He didn’t… Torture us.” But Luther’s voice had gotten less confident.

“Maybe he didn’t you.” Diego glowered at the floor and just briefly caught a surprised and grateful look from Vanya.

This seemed to shut Luther down somewhat. Five promptly finished his sandwich and looked around the room at his family.

“I’ve got some news for you. It doesn’t matter who killed him or why. He was irrelevant.”

“And you guys say I’m the insensitive one.” Diego started with a smirk. 

“That’s because you are.”

“Maybe if any of you had stuck to training and keeping the streets safe you would be a little insensitive too. It’s not my fault I didn’t settle down, have a bunch of brats, and pretend that everything is fine and normal.”

“You love kids.” Allison shot back with a rare smile towards her brother. 

“You know I don’t like kids, they’re loud, smelly, and obnoxious--”

“Here’s your tea, uncle ‘ego” Claire popped up under his arm with a small decorated bowl she must have stolen from one of the cabinets, it had a cheesy floral design and was filled with a few dust bunnies and a twig.

Diego took it without hesitation and brought it up for a dramatic swig, “Thanks, kiddo - All naturals’ the way to go.”

Claire beamed as he ruffled the top of her head, “You’re welcome!”

Diego turned back to his siblings, “I don’t like kids. You people just keep having them and I keep having to step up to be the best uncle.”

Allison shook her head as Vanya snorted incredulously, “You’re so dumb.”

“Enough!” Five snapped, leaning forward to get their attention, “Listen, I’ve seen things that you couldn’t even imagine - I’m talking the most hidden, horrific nightmares you could imagine. Heat death of the universe kind of shit and- “

“Tea?”

Five paused and looked down with one raised eyebrow, the little one seemed to be challenging him. He straightened up, “I only drink coffee.”

The four year old squinted at him as they stared at each other as if in a standoff, after a moment she brought the yellow cup down and turned away to the rest of her tea party set up. 

Five readdressed his family, “So what dad messed us up? It’s about to get a lot worse and if you don’t figure out a way to put aside your childish pity disputes - well, you’re going to find out how bad it can really get.”

He stopped and looked to the ground, his face seemed to be twitching slightly in deep thought as if debating on what he should disclose. His siblings were staring at him with a heavy mixture of pity and skepticism - like they were looking at the crazy remains of what used to be their lost brother. 

“But this time around…”

“Coffee?” Claire held up a white teacup filled with air. 

“Black?”

The four year old looked into the cup to check the imaginary contents. She nodded, “Yup!”

Five took it with a sharp, “Thanks” and threw it back like an espresso shot. 

He sighed and tilted the cup as if examining the now empty contents.

“We’ve got eight days.” And he blinked away. 

Klaus shuffled into the kitchen sullenly just as the rest of the family started standing up, mumbling in confusion softly as they made their way into the rest of the house.

Klaus sighed, “What’d I miss?”

“Heat death of the universe or something? I don’t know.” Diego informed him as he strode out of the kitchen. 

Klaus plopped down on the floor next to his niece's tea set, glancing around at everyone wondering off but too tired to get up and follow them. 

He set his chin against the palm on his hand, “You got anything herbal, Claire Bear? Maybe a nice chamomile? With two teaspoons of raw honey--” He thought about it deeply, his fingers flitting gently in the air as he described it, “Nice and hot but not burning, you know what I mean?”

Claire thought about it for a moment and quickly got to work. A few seconds later he was presented with a bright pink cup and saucer filled with the leaves of one of Grace’s potted plants that had been unfortunately set on the floor next to the window for sun. 

Klaus took it with a tiny bow and used his hand to waft the imaginary steam up into his nose, “Exquisit!”

He pretend sipped at it and lounged back against the wall with a tired groan, “What a day, amirite?”

*******************************************************************************************

It was a little later just before the family began the actual funeral portion of whatever the hell this was, when Five managed to catch Kenzie alone. She seemed to have just woken up from a nap and was turning the corner towards the rest of the family. 

Five stopped her mid stride in the hallway and held out his hand, “Give it.”

She blinked and looked up at him, “Excuse me?” She said with a mimicking catty tone. 

“I know you have the monocle. Give it to me.”

“I don’t have it? Why would I have it? What is a monocle?” She laid on the denial as strong as you would expect a crafty 7 year old to do so. 

“I’m from the future, Kenzie, I know things.”

His niece had a tell. She tapped lightly on the pocket where she kept whatever her sticky fingers had come across. But he kept that information to himself. He needed every advantage he could get. 

She frowned like she was going to challenge him. 

“You give it to me now and I won’t tell the rest of the family that you took it and withheld it from them. You know they’ve been looking for it.”

The little one’s face scrunched up and she dug into her pocket and smacked the monocle into his palm, “It’s a stupid monocle, anyway.”

He clenched around the item and tucked it away into his own pocket. Blackmailing 7 year olds was a piece of cake. 

“Smart move.”

The voices down the hall were getting closer, “One more thing. Have you spoken with your father lately?”

Kenzie glanced around Five to eye Klaus, Ben, and Dave all walking towards them talking amongst themselves. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

Five tapped the side of her right horn, “I mean the one who gave you these.”

“I don’t know how to talk to him. Momma said he’s a child support dodging rat bastard in the ground.” She said innocently. 

Five nodded thoughtfully, “Okay. Well, if you happen to run into him, let him know that Five is looking for him.”

He left his niece standing in the hallway slightly confused with the seed of a desire to talk to her absent father now buried in her subconscious. 

Now victoriously in possession of the monocle, he made his way to his old childhood bedroom. From the window he watched as the meager funeral procession continued in the drizzling rain as Luther tried his best to keep everything as proper as possible. 

Klaus was not among the rest of the siblings and as far as Five could tell, neither was Ben. Dave stood in stoically for them, probably because someone needed to stay with Kenzie, who, despite everything, had insisted on coming outside as they released the ashes. 

Allison carried Claire on her hip but they were the first to leave as Luther and Diego ended up in the inevitable fist fight. Soon everyone left the courtyard, leaving the pathetic pile of their father’s now wet ashes in the middle. 

Five watched as Dave tugged lightly on Kenzie’s shoulder to lead her indoors, the little one’s eyes hadn’t left the ashes and she bolted away from her step father. She landed a kick to the pile, spraying the moist bodily ashes across the courtyard before running back to him. 

Five was impressed that Dave didn’t react, he only turned away as she rejoined him under the umbrella and brought her back inside dutifully. 

Five sighed and closed his blinds with one last look at the scene below. He meandered to the full body mirror in the corner and fished the monocle out of his pocket. He paused but then brought it up to his right eye. 

He smiled sadly as the reflection changed to that of an old, bitter looking man with sharp, dark eyes and a pattern of scars across the visible places on his body. The lines, scars, and grey hair revealing the lifetime he had endured. He stared at the reflection for too long before settling on the edge of the bed and letting the monocle drop to the pillow. 

His mind wandering through the ages that he had lived. And despite the face in the mirror. He felt ancient. 

*************************

_“Anybody!?” Five stumbled through the wasteland that had been of the city he once lived in – even as he shuffled in shock through what was left of the street the buildings around him continued to crumble and fires crackled in the dead silent air._

_The smoke that snaked through the city was black the sky was shielded with ash that floated down like poisonous snow._

_He stopped when he came across the still burning remains of the theatre. At the edge, slumped over concrete he saw a dangling wrist, it had a black umbrella tattoo on his wrist and it only took a moment for Five to recognize the blue eyes of Luther, now dull and empty of life. He was much older but Five instantly recognized him._

_The tears started to fall again as he moved forward into the rubble, quickly he found Diego’s body. Like Luther, his eyes were opened, and his face was frozen in a vague sense of fear._

_He found a few more bodies that he didn’t recognize, men in masks and technical gear who were torn to pieces. He was kneeling over one of the victims, curious even though it was abundantly clear that who, what, and how about their deaths didn’t matter anymore when the sound of a tumbling brick shot his head around._

_“Is someone here!?” His voice cracked and he stumbled further into the disaster. His eyes scanned the area desperately._

_Ahead of him he saw movement under the remains of a wall and he sprinted, “Hey!”  
When he reached the small lump in the rubble he dove forward and began to pull pieces of brick, concrete, and trash away from whatever had been moving. For the first time since he had travelled to this hellish wasteland his face lit up with hope._

_The hope was quickly dashed as he uncovered the bodies of Allison and Klaus. They were situated differently than everyone else, rather than being sprawled out with their eyes open – their eyes were closed, and their faces looked peaceful. They were curled together with their hands clasped. A position which seemed to create the effect of a heart between them._

_Five let himself collapse backwards, his entire world spiraling into the vast nothingness that was left of his home, his world, and his family._

_Then Allison’s arm shifted and Five was pulled away from his despair. He stood up then backed away to get a better view of what was happening. Klaus' hand was pulled away from his sisters and suddenly Five realized that something was pushing up between them. He watched as a heavy blue blanket began to wrestle forward, shoving the siblings apart._

_He heard an audible grunt from underneath then the blanket and bodies were pushed aside and two small, dirt covered faces stared up at him. He watched in horror as they, like he had done when he first arrived, began to take in the destruction around them._

_He knew who they were immediately. The resemblance was undeniable._

_He didn’t know if this made the current circumstances better or so, so much worse._

_Either way he held out a hand._

_“Hey, it’s going to be okay.”_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going to be okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on the last chapter! This one is smaller and less plot based, I just wanted to slow things down a little and also, I am hoping to move to small chapters so I can maybe post more often but there just won't be as much happening in them. Hopefully, I can start that soon! Thank you so much for reading! I hope that you enjoy!

“We are a _proudly_ emotional family.” Klaus started with a flourish of his hand as Allison sat gingerly on the window seat. 

She had her purse clasped between her hands and was having trouble looking directly at her brother. She was surprised when they offered a place to stay for the night since it was possible that they hadn’t captured and destroyed all of the fiends. However, that surprise faded and now as they settled down and fell into silence she felt a sense of guilt wash over her.

“I would argue maybe too much so.” Ben commented dryly as he walked past them into the living room. 

Klaus moved to sit on the other side of the window seat, he lounged backward and rested his head against one of the pillows, “Just saying... You don’t need to feel-” He scrunched his face up, “I mean, you’re… Always welcome.” He finished tiredly. 

She smiled, leaning back with a sigh, “Klaus, I- I’m sorry I rumored you.” 

She shrugged, “You’d think after all this time. After everything that happened with Patrick that I would have learned my lesson but--” She glanced down with a frown, “When It comes to--”

“I got you this!” Kenzie all but toppled into her aunt’s arms carrying a fleece blanket that had Allison as one of her action hero characters displayed proudly on the design. 

Even after everything that had happened during the course of the day, when they told her that Allison and Claire were spending the night all of her energy had doubled and she was in full sleepover mode. 

“I got you this-” She repeated, “It’s my favorite and it’s supposed to be very warm! I’ve got the matching pillow case but I can’t find it… I’ll try to find it before bed!”

Allison held up the relatively small blanket with a grin, “Thank you! I’ve never slept with my own face before-that’s a first!”

“Momma- You’re on the blanket…” Seemingly out of nowhere Claire was starting to crawl up into her mother’s lap while Kenzie was still bouncing next to them. 

“I see that.”

Their conversation was quickly being overrun with the chattering of the children. Klaus and Allison were pushed apart as Kenzie plopped between them and helped pull Claire into her mother’s lap. 

“Allison--” Dave turned the corner from the kitchen, tossing a hand towel over his shoulder, “We’ve got some spare toothbrushes that we can use if you don’t want to pull all your luggage apart.”

“Thanks, Dave.”

“You girls ready to brush your teeth?”

“Yeah!” Kenzie yelled, suddenly the idea of something so mundane that they usually had to nag her about was exciting and new now that her little cousin was staying over. 

She grabbed Claire’s hand, “We can do it together - I’ll show you how to brush your teeth!” This wasn’t the first time she had boldly announced that she was going to teach her baby cousin something the 4 year old probably knew how to do. She had decided that it was now her duty to take full responsibility of the smaller child. 

Claire seemed a little confused but Kenzie’s energy was contagious and bleeding into her attitude despite the late hour. She was tugged away from her mom with a little wave. 

“Thank you, sweetie!” Allison waved them off, internally relieved that she had some help. 

Before Dave could help them, a soft tugging at his sleeve brought him back around, “Dave, can I- I can’t seem to--” Sally pointed in despair at the top shelf of games that she couldn’t reach. 

“Yeah, no problem…” He immediately reached up and grabbed a bunch of them, reading through the slightly more mature titles than the ones that Kenzie could easily reach, “Which one do you want for tonight?”

She bit her lip in deep indecision before tapping on one of the spines, “That one.”

“Okay, but make sure to keep the volume low, we’ve got guests.” He handed it to the ghost child. 

“Okay. Can you-”

“Yeah, I’ll set up the subtitles. You mind getting it started?”

“Thank you!” Sally hugged the game to her chest and skipped over to the console. 

Dave glanced over at Allison and put a reassuring hand up, “I’ll get you a bigger blanket - I just gotta make sure nothing gets flooded real quick.” He then quickly followed after the unsupervised children. 

Allison glanced over at her brother and she found him staring fondly at the other man as he corralled the children. Maybe he was just tired but his stare seemed far off and he was relatively calm for the day that they had all just endured. 

“When it comes to Kenzie-” She continued stiffly, “I felt like I couldn’t take that chance. If something was happening and…”

Klaus waved their hand, “I know that. Don’t even worry about it. Forgotten.”

This didn’t seem to be a good enough answer for Allison who’s voice dropped slightly as she continued, “I know that I haven’t been around much but that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t have--” She sighed in frustration. Heart to hearts weren’t exactly their family’s forte. 

“When you first told me about her, before I knew anything--”

“You were already getting a plane ticket?”

Allison nodded solemnly. 

Klaus huffed, “Oh, I could hear it in your voice.”

“I would have come and gotten her in a heartbeat if I thought for one second that she wasn’t safe.”

“If what happened before I left for LA…” Allison scoffed, “All the awful things we said to each other, is why you didn’t tell me when she was born then I just want you to know that it wouldn’t have mattered. It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my family.”

Klaus gingerly laid his legs over her lap causing her to roll her eyes. And for a moment it was just like it was when they were kids, before all the horrors and the trauma had driven them apart. When Klaus and Allison would curl up together next to the window and flip through magazines and talk gossip and drama. Speculate all the crazy things they wanted from their lives. 

Allison had always imagined her life including her brother - he was her first best friend. From early on they both desired the adventures that could unfold outside the confines of their stuffy home life and the rigid schedules and harsh rules. They wanted similar things but they went after that bliss in different ways. Allison charmed and manipulated her way to freedom and fortune, building up her beautiful house of cards while Klaus searched for love and validation through fleeting moments under the influence. 

The drugs made those dreams impossible. Ambition made them unrealistic. 

“I know that.” Klaus stretched. 

He laughed, “I always figured you would be able to take better care of her. Believe me - I think I still have PTSD from the first few years of her life...” 

Then he repeated seriously, “I definitely have PTSD from the first 3 years…”

Allison glanced around at the apartment, “You did make it though it - now you got a home, a fiance, and a healthy girl who can light on fire.”

He giggled, thinking back and pointing a finger at his sister, “Listen, you don’t know the meaning of the word fear until your infant spontaneously combusts on the kitchen floor.”

“My one and only baby and she just bursts into flames - It’s that moment where you think…’Oh God, how could I have possibly fucked up this badly?’”

Allison giggled. 

“So there we were and my baby was just on fire and she thought it was very funny and then I stress vomited for the next two years. It was wild.” He rolled his head over to look at her, “I bet Claire has thrown you a few curve balls in her time? Please say yes.”

Allison grinned, shaking her head with a soft shrug, “Nope. She was a perfect baby. Very easy going. She’s better than me in every way…”

“Well, I can relate to that…”

Allison punched him in the arm. 

“Ow! I meant in having a daughter who is better than us - jeez.”

“Oh, my bad.”

They both started giggling. 

After a few moments they fell into a comfortable silence and Klaus closed his eyes, “Dad loved to generalize, didn’t he? Like with you and all the ‘shallow’ and ‘selfish’ talk--”

“Hey--”

He continued, “And me being the cowardly deviant with amazing hair- what an asshole, right?”

The Seance quickly wiped away at his face, “He didn’t know anything about us…”

“He didn’t care to.”

“And honestly--” Allison continued, “I don’t care anymore. I just want to move on, salvage what’s left our family and just make something better. While I’m here I want to talk to Vanya and I just want to apologize for all the horrible things we put her through. I mean, can you imagine if someone were to treat Claire the way we treated Vanya? I can’t stand the thought.”

“Was it just me or was it weird that Five thought she had superpowers? Like, he was so insistent about the whole thing...”

Allison rolled her eyes, “Oh God, and we’ll have to deal with- whatever he’s going through. He probably just assumed since Kenzie has powers that Claire does too.”

“He was so adamant - and angry? Honestly, I can’t tell. It might just be his face.”

“Glad to know nothing changed. But seriously, I don’t want him alone with Claire until he either chills out or gets a psych evaluation. He threw her up in the air and, I don’t know, just thought she was going to fly or float or something? He almost dropped her! I mean, what the hell was he thinking?”

Klaus shrugged, his attention turning towards Dave as he walked up with an extra pillow and a heavy blanket folded nearly over his arms.

“You can keep the one with your face on it but I figured you might want something a little more substantial.”

She gratefully took the amenities, “Thanks. Is Claire being good?”

Dave laughed for a moment before realizing that it was a serious question, “Oh, yeah, she’s an angel. Don’t worry about that. Ben’s reading them a story in Kenz’ room. I’m not sure where she’ll want to sleep tonight, right now we’ve got the mattress out for both of them.”

“Wherever she drops is fine.” Allison was beginning to look truly worn out, as did all the living adults in the house, “She’ll probably want to stay with Kenzie. I’ll tell her goodnight before she crashes.”

Klaus whined as she shoved his legs out of her lap but he pulled himself up, nonetheless and followed her through the apartment. Dave sat down with Sally and started fixing the settings so she would have subtitles on her game. 

The door was slightly ajar and Klaus shuffled up behind his sister as she quietly poked her head into the kids room. Klaus looked over her shoulder. 

Ben was sitting at the end of the mattresses which were placed on the floor to add more room and piled with blankets and stuffed animals. Claire was curled up against Ben’s side, absently rubbing the white ears of a polar bear stuffy while Kenzie sat up against the bedframe and watched her uncle intently as he lifted up the book and showed the pictures. 

He had to alter the position of the book closer to the four year old so that she would be able to see the picture. She poked at the smooth page and traced her finger along the outline of some cartoon character. 

Instead of interrupting them Allison waved sweetly which was quickly reciprocated by both of the children, “Sleep sweet, baby.”

Claire stretched, “Sleep sweet!” She said with a big yawn. 

“Good night, Aunt Allison!” Kenzie yelled, louder than she needed to. 

“Night, Kenzie!”

Allison and Klaus slipped away into the hallway as Ben’s voice continued softly through the storybook. 

“I’m going to get some sleep. You look like you could use some too.”

“First of all, it’s an aesthetic, okay? When you work at an occult shop they expect a certain--” He waved his hand around looking for the word, “Mystique.” 

“Mm hm, well then great job on the eye bags - very prominent. I know professional makeup artists who couldn’t do it that well.”

“It’s really easy! All you gotta do is sob heavily in despair then you just rub the wet eyeliner down, like so--” He used his middle finger to mime rubbing under his eye while flipping her off with a grin. 

She reciprocated the bird then pulled him into a spontaneous hug which he stumbled into with a giggle. 

“Judge much?”

“Get some sleep, jackass.”

As much as he was trying to keep up the mood, when he finally stripped out of his funeral clothes and stole a pair of Dave’s sweats and one of his old t-shirts he collapsed into the bed and melted with a soft groan. His body throbbed, painful pulses that thrummed down his spine and through his legs until it tightened around his heart and lungs. 

Even the light touch of Dave’s fingers slowly trailing down his back sent small bolts of lightning over his skin. He didn’t stop him though, even through the pain he still enjoyed the soft touches. It was a while later when he finally got the strength to pull himself up against the headboard with a whine. 

Dave stared up at him from his elbow and his face broke out into a pleasant smile. 

Klaus’ eyebrow raised suspiciously, “What?”

“We made it.”

The other man huffed skeptically. 

“It’s over. We get to move on now. I mean, sure I didn’t exactly expect your long lost brother to fall out of the sky or for Kenzie to unleash an invisible army but hey, a win’s a win.”

“Or that part where my brother punched you in the face?”

“No, I prepared for that one.”

“What about the bit where Kenzie’s childhood was ruined but not in the normal way where she realizes Santa isn’t real in the way where she realized that her father is a murderer?” He whined, “She hates me…”

“She doesn’t hate you, Klaus. The whole situation is messed up. I think she was more angry that we lied to her than she was about the ‘murder’ bit. And it wasn’t murder, it was self defense.”

“Just checking. How many murders can I commit before it's, like, a problem?”

Dave thought about it for a moment, “Well, you are _very_ hot… So, like, five?”

This made Klaus actually laugh and he brought his hand up tiredly to cover his face. Dave continued to stare up at him and he gently squeezed the other man’s thigh reassuringly. 

“One thing at a time. The important thing is that we’re here and we made it through today. The worst part is behind us.”

The door to their bedroom creaked open and before they could respond, Kenzie shuffled quickly into the room. Without a word she climbed on to Klaus’ lap and snuggled against his chest. He pulled her close, glancing at Dave who only smiled knowingly. 

“Well, hello. Are you feeling okay?” He said, rubbing her back as she clung onto him wordlessly. 

She didn’t respond but after several moments she glanced up, “Good night, momma. I love you.”

“I love you too, Pumpkin.”

She moved away and prodded intently to the other side of the bed. She wrapped her arms briefly around Dave’s neck. “Good night, dad. I love you.”

“You too, Kenz’. We’ll be right here, if you guys need anything, okay.”

She nodded then bolted out of the room to fulfil her duties as older cousin, the door clicked shut and they were left alone. Klaus stared after somewhat sadly, his arms flopped at his side tiredly. 

After a moment Dave leaned up and pressed a soft kiss against Klaus’ cheek, “See? everything’s going to be okay. Let’s get some sleep.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All about Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope that you have been enjoying this story! I always love to hear what you think! Anyway, this one is all Five and Vanya. I debated on even adding this chapter because it really doesn't have anything to do with the main family but I thought it was important for the plot. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!!

“When I got there everything was gone. Everyone was gone.” Five looked down at the white mug of coffee between his hands.

He was sitting across from Vanya on a pale blue couch in their living room. Vanya and Sophie’s apartment was a simple, quiet mixture of rustic charm and practicality which Five could appreciate. However, the place was obviously in a state of flux’ unopened boxes with happy babies on the sides, paint buckets and building supplies were shoved in the corners. There was the feeling of growing life in the air.

A small fake fireplace warmed up the room, on the mantle was a photograph of Vanya in concert attire holding her violin. Sophie had her arm around the shorter woman’s shoulders with her face pressed against her cheek. They grinned proudly at the camera and Five realized that he had never seen Vanya glowing so proudly without an apology.

“Everyone but Claire and Kenzie.” He leaned forward, “I found them under bodies and rubble. Two little girls spared and neither of them could tell me what happened.”

Vanya’s eyes were trained on him, a mixture of worry and horror at the things he was saying. Her brow furrowed intently at his words. He watched her closely, searching for her to give something away but her face remained on him.

“I get Claire – she was four. But Kenzie didn’t seem to know anything either. I found her with dog tags engraved with the name “David J. Katz” and an emerald ring around her neck.” Five growled, “Claire had a bracelet- Like a homemade piece with the words “Mom loves you” in plastic beads.”

“What did you do? So you raised them? Are they okay?”

Five wiped his face quickly, letting his foot bounce erratically against his knee, “They knew something was going to happen.”

Five’s hands were shaking, maybe from the amount of coffee or maybe just from re-telling his story. He glanced around the room. He eyed a well-hidden storage compartment next to the window along with the heavy standardized lock across the main window facing out towards the city.

Vanya was leaning to the side trying to catch his gaze. “Five?”

He turned back to his sister, “I’m glad that you have locks on your windows.”

“What did you do?” Vanya repeated.

“We survived. We buried the bodies and we moved on the best that we could. Not everything died when the moon shattered. Most things did. But not everything. The farther we got from the impact the more we found. Mostly small animals, bugs, the toughest bastards... The ocean was better than okay, filled with life. We went there first.”

He chuckled and leaned back, “You wouldn’t imagine how many calories it takes to keep Kenzie from going dormant.”

“Dormant?”

He paused, “And then there were the monsters.”

Vanya swallowed and glanced back to where Sophie was idly cleaning the kitchen, keeping her head down but obviously listening to every word intently. Five knew that she was listening, but he didn’t really care, he doubted either of them believed him so he continued.

“When the earth lost its population, the dormant things started to come to life. Really, it was only a death for humanity.”

“Five—”

“But it’s not going to happen again.” He fished around in his pocket and pulled out a synthetic eyeball. He held it up in the dim lamplight, “Claire was clutching this when I found her- obviously she doesn’t remember whose it is but whoever this belongs to has something to do with the apocalypse.”

Vanya only got a brief glance of the eye before he tucked it away protectively in his jacket, “That and some contacts I’ve picked up over the years and we’ll be able to stop the end of the world.”

He took a loud sip of coffee, “I know you don’t believe me.” There wasn’t any malice in his tone, and he tried to keep it that way.

Vanya’s hands wrung in her lap as she attempted to process this, “It’s not that I don’t believe you – it’s that maybe I don’t understand. But you didn’t answer my question, if you raised them- are they okay? Why didn’t they come back with you?”

“I think ‘raise’ is a strong word. I was only a few years older than Kenzie when I landed…” His voice trailed off and he couldn’t ward off the agitation from staying in one place for so long with everything at stake. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and stood up.

“They’re fine.”

Vanya jumped up, her head swiveling towards her partner as Five made his way to the door, “Wait!”

He turned back towards her with a sigh.

“I’m worried about you.”

“You should be worried about the end of the world.”

“I mean, dad did say that time travel could mess with your mind…” She bit her lip and trailed off, her face lined with concern.

When she spoke again her voice was more confident, “Look, you’ve been through so much and this is a lot to take in. Why don’t you stay the night. We can talk about this in the morning after we’ve all got some rest.”

Five started to shake his head but the look on his sister’s face made him falter.

“I’m having lunch with Klaus and Ben tomorrow. Maybe you can come with me?”

Five’s eyebrow shot up, “Is Kenzie going back to school?”

The question seemed to catch her off guard slightly, “No, I mean, I think they’re keeping her in for another day since all the- you know – She was supposed to go hiking with Dave so maybe they’ll do that? I don’t know…”

With her brother’s seemingly fragile mental state at the moment she immediately regretted telling him all that information and she quickly attempted to move on, “But you can decide in the morning after you’ve gotten some sleep.”

Five paused for several moments, his foot tapping lightly against the tile floor. “Okay.”

*****************************

“I’ll, um, I can get you some different bedding…”

Five glanced around at Vanya and Sophie’s extra bedroom. At one point it looked like it was nice but now they were obviously in a state of flux and the floor was littered with painting supplies and prepared shelving and tools. An unopened crib was laying diagonally in the corner and half of the wallpaper had been stripped away to reveal bare walls.

Pressed up against the edge of the room was a small bed with an even tinier bedside table perched precariously on the mattress to give them more room. Vanya was already pulling the table off and placing it next to the bed. She hurriedly, like she was concerned he was going to bolt, pulled off several toys and settled them on the table revealing a cartoon plastered bedspread along with a matching purple pillowcase surrounded by several stuffed animals.

“Sorry, Kenzie was really into Doc Mcstuffins when she was staying over.” She said somewhat breathlessly.

Five put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s fine. Thanks.”

Vanya smiled, “Get some rest. We’ll be in here if you need anything.”

He nodded gratefully then awkwardly laid down fully clothed in the children’s bed. Even with his youthful appearance his legs still stuck out over the end and he curled his knees up slightly before Vanya could worry anymore. 

A loud squeak from under him caused him to jump and he stiffly pulled a toy pig that was pressed into his ribs and looked at it. He looked at it distastefully and pressed the button around it’s middle; the toy gave out a cartoonish squeal and its eyes lit up. He forcefully smiled and settled it on the small in table with the rest of the toys.

“Goodnight, Vanya.”

She gave him a quick apologetic look, “Night, Five.”

Vanya shut the door lightly behind her and just stood there for several moments processing the day. Her head was spinning, she was emotionally and physically exhausted from the day that had just happened and now her long lost brother was sleeping in their guest bedroom like the past 17 years just didn’t exist. She rubbed her face and stared down at her hands briefly before pushing off from the door and making her way into the bedroom.

She found Sophie in the bathroom brushing her teeth, looking ridiculously calm even in the face of what was happening. Her shoulders were still tense and despite her efforts to seem relaxed, Vanya could tell that she was on edge and probably would be until Five left. She didn’t blame her and she appreciated her willingness to go along with all the craziness.

Vanya leaned against the bathroom door, “How are you doing?”

Sophie wiped her mouth and placed the toothbrush in a cup. She laughed, “Me? I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Vanya shrugged with a smile, “Hey, I was born into all this craziness. Maybe I’m just used to it by now.” She glanced back towards their in-progress nursery, “But all that – must have been kind of triggering for you?”

“What? All the doomsday stuff?”

Vanya nodded.

Sophie looked into the mirror briefly before turning back to her partner with a reassuring smile, “I mean, hey, lots of people subscribe to that kind of thing. Can’t go 10 feet on the street without bumping into some doomsayer, preaching about the end. If anything, I should be the most used to it. I know how they think.”

“Yeah, but—”

Sophie put a hand on her face and caught her gaze, “If anything, today was a miracle. Your father is no longer looming over our head. Thanks Klaus, I guess?” She laughed and pressed a soft kiss to Vanya’s lips, “And the brother you thought you’d never see again is going to be there for the birth of your daughter. It’s incredible.”

Vanya’s face flushed and she giggled slightly at the thought, “I guess you’re right.”

Sophie pulled her in for a hug and held her there, “Hell yeah, I’m right.”

She walked past her partner with a grin and settled into the bed with a relieved sigh. 

She stretched out and looked up at Vanya and raised her eyebrow, “I mean, he won’t be in the delivery room and we might need to get him some psychiatric help but hey, we’ve got a few months to work out the kinks.”

Vanya plopped down face first on the bed with a dramatic bounce, “What the hell is even happening anymore?” She said with a laugh as Sophie patted her back reassuringly.

********************************************************

Five inhaled deeply as he blinked onto the steps of the apartment building, he stretched out some of the tension in his neck and started walking purposefully towards the inner-city mumbling something about toddler beds under his breath. Vanya wouldn’t be happy that he snuck out, but he didn’t really care.

Above him the moon shined intensely, nearly full and casting a dense glow even through the light pollution of the city.

Five looked up squinting at the celestial body, “I’m just going to say it- You tell me off all the goddamn time for ‘recklessness’ and poor planning and yet here we are! 8 days till the apocalypse and you haven’t even chosen a ‘champion’ yet.”

He threw his arms out angrily, still walking quickly down the sidewalk, “I understand that you’re bound by the fate of the earth but if that’s so then why even give that kind of hope? To let her wander through the remains of her dead planet? Then wallow around in the politics and bureaucracy?”

He kicked a patch of dead grass and watched as it shot out into a fence before leaning back angrily at the moon, “What was the point!?

He sped up – his head towards the sky as thin clouds started to blow in, “I’m just saying that a little help here would be appreciated!” Five snapped.

He leaned forward onto his knees and caught his breath, calming down after a few breaths. When he looked back up the thin clouds had started to obscure his view of the moon. He stood up, his face falling in despair, “Look, I’m sorry – I know that…”

He skipped forward, “I’m sorry I lost you, okay?! I’ll find her again…” He twisted around, finally taking in his surroundings, “She’s gotta be around here somewhere – some department store. Then we can… Talk…”

His shoulders fell as the clouds fully wiped the glow of the moon, “Fine. Take your time. But I’m not letting it happen again…”

He stood in the middle of the sidewalk and stared up. A piece of the cloud split off and a beam of moonlight hit his face, he cringed slightly and tilted his head in silence for a beat.

“What!? The equations were off?!” He gestured down his prepubescent body, “I hadn’t noticed!”

The cloud drifted over the moon and he threw his hands up with an ever so brief smirk, “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up…”

A fond smile flashed over his face and he shook his head, “I’m never going to live this down…”

There was the crack of a twig behind him and Five’s head snapped towards the disturbance, now fully on guard, assuming a fighting stance. Instead of an enemy he found someone leaning against a tree on the outskirts of the park, unbeknownst to him, he had stumbled upon during his heated conversation. 

The person had loose earbuds around their neck and was watching him with a tilted, highly amused face. He noted quickly the non-threatening stance they were in along with the scar down the side of their neck.

They raised an eyebrow, “Moon troubles?”

Five stared at them. 

“That’s rough, buddy.”

“I’m not looking for drugs. Keep moving.”

“What a coincidence. Me either.” They sighed, “I work nights at the fire department. Sometimes I don’t know what to do when I’m not at work so I like to come out here and hang out with the moon.” They put their hands up, “Just as friends. Of course.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“You need some help, kid?” They offered, finally. “I’m not a cop. I won’t get you in trouble.” They slowly reached into their pocket and pulled out a pack of gum, offering it over to Five with their palm down. 

He clocked the burn scar beginning on their hand and leading up their arm and disappearing under their long sleeve shirt. He thought about it for a moment, twisting the synthetic eye in his pocket between his fingers before taking the offer and plucking out a piece of peppermint gum. 

“I’m Liev.”

Five glanced up, “Five.”

They huffed, “That’s a fucked up name, Five. No offense.”

He smirked, “Thanks. My dad picked it out.”

“So what’s going on, Five? Most people don’t come out here talking to the moon unless they're looking for something.”

“Actually, I’m looking for someplace.”

They shrugged, “Well, I’ve served here my whole life. I’m sure I can help.”

He read them off the business address labeled on the eye and sure enough Liev was able to point him exactly where the business was at, and give a detailed history of the building. Before he left they gave him the full pack of gum, inside he didn’t miss the address and phone number of some local shelters. 

“Don’t do anything stupid, kid!” They called after him as he started walking away. 

“Don’t call me kid!” He called back, leaving them behind. 

He was about five blocks away when he finally sat down on a public bench. He debated on going to the meritech building before the start of the day. He also had the urge to stop by Klaus’ place and check on the girls. 

The sky had gone completely overcast and he was left alone mulling over the situation, his mind racing due to the coffee and stress. However, when the muzzle of a gun nudged the back of his head he was alert enough to have heard them creeping up on him. 

He frowned, “That was even faster than I thought.”

He turned around calmly on the bench and looked over the dozen or so cheap mercenaries surrounding him, their guns pointed directly at his head. The leader, he presumed, nudged him again. “Five Hargreeves, It’s time to come with us.”

He chuckled, “I assure you the director of operations did not approve this mission. You leave now, you won’t be in trouble.”

The man tensed and loaded the gun, shoving it further into Five’s face. “We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way!”

“Funny. I was about to say the same thing.”

He blinked away, landing directly behind the leader and with one swift movement he snapped the mercenaries neck. 

Five shook his head, “You should have been paying more attention to who was signing your contract.”

The man dropped as the rest of the stunned soldiers all started firing at once. 

************************************************************************************

Claire tiptoed up to the window of her cousin’s room and peeked outside into the city which was so very different from the city she had known her whole life. Off in the distance she saw a cluster of flashing lights and the popping sounds which reminded her of the actions movies her dad watched. 

The multiple flashing lights became faster and more panicked before finally ceasing without warning along with the violent cracking. The stillness was short lived and a moment later sirens began blaring all around the city, moving towards the disturbance. 

Claire frowned and decided that she didn’t like those lights. She picked up her teddy bear and bolted into the next room. Without a sound she climbed into the pull out couch bed where her mother’s form was sleeping under the covers. 

She whined tugging at them and with a soft mumble, her mother opened her arms and she crawled into them. Snuggling safely under the covers.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think in the comments! I always adore them! 
> 
> And feel free to follow me on Tumblr at the same username (CaptainAmericaontheTardis) for updates! 
> 
> Thank you! - Shawn (They/Them)


End file.
